Uninhabited and Unafraid, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UCAV, UAV, and Drone Aircraft)

[GTX]

Recent news report that's relevant:

Merciless robots will fight future wars, researcher Peter Singer says

From correspondents in Los Angeles
Agence France-Presse
February 05, 2009 09:32pm

ROBOTS will be armies of the future in a case of science fact catching up to fiction, a researcher said today.
Peter Singer, who has authored books on the military, warned that while using robots for battle saves the lives of military personnel, the move has the potential to exacerbate warfare by having heartless machines do the dirty work.

"We are at a point of revolution in war, like the invention of the atomic bomb," Mr Singer said.

"What does it mean to go to war with US soldiers whose hardware is made in China and whose software is made in India?"

Mr Singer predicts that US military units will be half machine, half human by 2015.

The US Army already recruits soldiers using a custom war videogame, and some real-world weapon controls copy the designs of controllers for popular videogame consoles.

Attack drones and bomb-handling robots are already common in battle zones.

Robots not only have no compassion or mercy, they insulate living soldiers from horrors that humans might be moved to avoid.

"The United States is ahead in military robots, but in technology there is no such thing as a permanent advantage," Mr Singer said. "You have Russia, China, Pakistan and Iran working on military robots."

There is a "disturbing" cross between robotics and terrorism, according to Singer, who told of a website that lets visitors detonate improvised explosive devices from home computers.

"You don't have to convince robots they are going to get 72 virgins when they die to get them to blow themselves up," Mr Singer said.

Robots also record everything they see with built-in cameras, generating digital video that routinely gets posted online at YouTube in graphic clips that soldiers refer to as "war porn", according to Mr Singer.

"It turns war into entertainment, sometimes set to music," Mr Singer said. "The ability to watch more but experience less."

Robotics designer David Hanson offered hope when it comes to making robots a little more human.

Mr Hanson builds robots that have synthetic flesh faces and read people's expressions in order to copy expressions.

"The goal here is not just to achieve sentience, but empathy," Mr Hanson said.

"As machines are more capable of killing, implanting empathy could be the seeds of hope for our future."

Mr Hanson demonstrated a lifelike robotic bust of late genius Albert Einstein that makes eye contact and mimics people's expressions.

"I smiled at that thing and jumped out of my skin when it smiled back," TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) curator Chris Anderson quipped. "It's freaky."

His prediction that the US military units will be half machine, half human by 2015 is ultra-optimistic (or pessimistic depending upon your view point).

Regards,

Greg

[Just call me Ray]

I remember reading a report like this back in 05, and another one like that about a decade prior to that point. At this point, these types of funded "studies" remind me a lot of those university surveys that come to the shocking conclusion "most males tend to enjoy having sex with females."

(on a completely unrelated note, I remember seeing a study on how there tends to be a disproportionate number of studies about sex since those get big grant money. Of course that's besides the other implication, about studies about studies )

I'm pretty sure I already mentioned how I believe there will be about 100 or so "combat" pilots in the USAF, and how their main role is to at least coordinate with UAVs and let them do the heavy work (mostly air-to-ground). Ground-based uninhabited vehicles seem trickier, but are certainly attractive. Either way I'm sure bunches of the types of simple, cheap air-to-ground drones I talked about earlier will ruin somebody's logistics lines.

[Daryl J.]

Hawker Hunter F.6 converted into some UAV role.   Anything Hunter based is cool. 
The Revell of Germany kit was specifically in mind for this.



Daryl J.

[GTX]

In 2009, the USAF (later followed my other Air Forces), decided that using manned crews for transport aircraft was a waste - the missions were fairly straight forward (Take off - Fly - Land) and highly trained crews could be better used elsewhere.  Most transport aircraft such as the existing C-17s etc were converted to be optionally manned.  The most radical change though was the QC-130H - these were already being refurbished so it was decided to save further weight by removing the unnecessary cockpit:



Regards,

Greg

[Rafael]

Brilliant!!

Greg, you're a genius!!!

I'm not totally bought on the UCAV idea, but everytime I see concepts like this, the bug bites me. I believe it is totally plausible, maybe not for combat insertions, but for your regular trash-hauling, should be good.

Rafa

[PR19_Kit]

You can just imagine the chaos on the M4 if Joe Public gets to know that some of the RAF's Herks have no pilots.

Every time time one comes into view there'd either be huge jams at Jcts 16 and 17 to get off the motorway, or everyone would accelerate to Vmax and the hell with the 'Wiltshire Safety Camera Partnership'  and their accursed works!

[Just call me Ray]

In 2009, the USAF (later followed my other Air Forces), decided that using manned crews for transport aircraft was a waste - the missions were fairly straight forward (Take off - Fly - Land) and highly trained crews could be better used elsewhere.  Most transport aircraft such as the existing C-17s etc were converted to be optionally manned.  The most radical change though was the QC-130H - these were already being refurbished so it was decided to save further weight by removing the unnecessary cockpit:



Regards,

Greg

Yeah, I really like this idea and the rationale, pretty brilliant

[GTX]

I can only hope it comes for real!  I will keep trying.

Regards,

Greg

[Jeffry Fontaine]

While doing some research on the Douglas Skybolt missile I came across the 1/72 scale Rockets, Missiles, Drones and RPVs page which contains a rather concise list of all (known to him) missiles in 1/72nd scale from various manufacturers which has been compiled in to a data base for reference which may be of use to some of you that are in search of a particular weapon for a project.  This data base could assist in your search for that particular item. 

[Hobbes]

General Atomics (I love that name) have unveiled the Predator C.
There's an article on Aviation Week, but the site seems to be down. Here are some photos:







Quote via slashdot.org:

This new Predator has a stealthy design, 20-hour endurance, is jet powered and has an internal weapons bay. A number of photos have just become available. 'The aircraft was designed so the wings can be folded for storage in hangars or aircraft carrier operations if a naval customer is found. Cassidy, a retired admiral, has talked about a possible Navy role for Predator C since 2002. The Navy was interested in the Predator B's capabilities, but didn't want to introduce any new propeller-driven aircraft onto carrier decks. The UAV also comes with a tailhook, suggesting that carrier-related trials are planned. The inner section of the cranked wing is deep, providing structural strength for carrier landings and generous fuel volume while maintaining a dry, folding outer wing. Right now, the US Air Force and Royal Air Force are considered the most likely users.'"

[GTX]

See http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/AVENGER041709.xml&headline=Predator%20C%20Avenger%20Makes%20First%20Flights&channel=defense

for article.

Regards,

Greg

[kitbasher]

General Atomics (I love that name) have unveiled the Predator C.
There's an article on Aviation Week, but the site seems to be down. Here are some photos:

My entry for last year's Styrene Junkyard GB:

(more at http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,19428.msg272952.html#msg272952)  

[GTX]

For some reason, the AH-64 just screams to be made into a UCAR:



Regards,

Greg

[Just call me Ray]

The OH-58D would be an even better candidate considering how hazardous that mission is.

[GTX]

The OH-58D would be an even better candidate considering how hazardous that mission is.

Something like this perhaps?



Given the Unmanned Little Bird has been developed from competing the OH-6 Cayuse/MD500 family, I'm surprised it hasn't already been developed.

Regards,

Greg