Posted by Patrick Egan on December 17, 2009 at 10:34am
I guess they made it to TAAC.And I guess Cindy is looking for something new now that GWB is gone???http://cindysheehanssoapbox.blogspot.com/We really need to think of ways to showcase the positive side of this technology before the ACLU gets in on the action.
The focus is not meant to be political, but UAS/RPA community preservation.
I called this one a few years ago. You start weaponizing these things and they’ll be looked upon as a negative by the general public. CIA + x, doesn’t always equal a positive. Same thing will be hard to avoid when the Type II sUAS gets out into the world. The ACLU and black helicopter crowd are going to wail and cry about privacy. Then there’s us…
I was also thinking can't hurt to identify the picture with NASA on it, or if want to get real fancy, make it a link to information about the research craft.
The ratio of killed is doubtful...as most of the time "innocents" are not. If that ratio were true, a manned aircraft could do better as a pilot would not be cleared to drop if there were doubt. Sometimes, the Military UAVs give the ground commander an inflated sense of comfort with allowing the attack since he can "see" the target...gets them into video game mode. The responsibility of dropping live weapons/missiles/firing the gun was never lost on me while flying as it becomes a much more visceral event, and there is a sense that you are directly responsible for the outcome.
I think this whole discussion is unrelated to our community. No one disputes the utility of UAVs in gathering info and I don't think this campaign will result in any restrictions on scientific UAV use.
Comments
I called this one a few years ago. You start weaponizing these things and they’ll be looked upon as a negative by the general public. CIA + x, doesn’t always equal a positive. Same thing will be hard to avoid when the Type II sUAS gets out into the world. The ACLU and black helicopter crowd are going to wail and cry about privacy. Then there’s us…
Predator B has upward tail:
Reaper looks like Predator B, but bigger:
Comparison:-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
of 4 Next