X-47B Operational Concept Gallery

[Aircav]

http://www.darpa.mil/j-ucas/X-47/gallery.htm

http://www.darpa.mil/j-ucas/

[Gary]

I dunno guys, I'm as unnerved as hell by robotic weapons systems. Without a human in the cockpit, risking his or her life, it cheapens the lives of the guys in the crosshairs.  

[Aircav]

The thing I get worried about is in the future will we have computers fighting each other instead of people and then insisting the loser go and wipe out half the countries population.....      

[Jschmus]

I dunno guys, I'm as unnerved as hell by robotic weapons systems. Without a human in the cockpit, risking his or her life, it cheapens the lives of the guys in the crosshairs.

I believe that the value of these systems can be measured in the lives saved by not having to send people into combat.

My father served aboard the destroyer USS Hamner (DD-718).  The Hamner was a Gearing-class destroyer, modernized under the FRAM program in 1962.  She wasn't large enough to support proper facilities for helicopter operations, so she was modified to support a Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH.  The ship originally conducted trials of the drone in its original capacity, as an antisub platform.  Off the coast of Vietnam, the DASH was modified to serve as an aerial surveillance craft.  It was used for primitive gunnery targeting.  It was the success of these tests that led to the eventual development of craft like the RQ-1/MQ-1 Predator and the Global Hawk.  I don't have any problem with extending those sorts of operations to include weapons delivery.  I don't think manned combat aircraft will ever be completely done away with, but if missions can be accomplished with minimal risk to human life, then I'm all for it.

The initial UCAVs are intended to be flown by remote, by controllers on the ground or on other aircraft.  At this stage, none of them are designed to operate in a completely autonomous fashion.  You don't have to worry about humanity being wiped out by Skynet yet.