In any developmental milestone, the X-47B made its first arrested landing aboard an aircraft carrier yesterday. This latest test, which comes after a successful arrested landing on an airstrip and a successful deployment from an aircraft carrier, may help signal a new era for the use of unmanned aircraft in military operations.
For months now, the US Navy has been testing the Unmanned Aerial Combat Air System – the first drone aircraft that requires only minimal human intervention – pushing the boundaries in the hopes of determining how far the new autonomous air system can go. And with this latest landing, they just proved that the X-47B is capable of being deployed and landing at sea.
Aircraft landings on a carrier are a tricky endeavor even for experienced pilots, as the ship’s flight deck is hardly spacious, and rises, falls, and sways with the ocean waves. To stop their forward momentum in the shortest distance possible, carrier aircraft have a hook on the underside of the fuselage that latches onto cables stretched across the flight deck. This means that pilots need to land precisely to grab the hook and come to a complete stop in time.
The test flight began when the drone took off from the Naval Air Station at Patuxent River, Md. and then flew to meet the USS George H.W. Bush at sea, a flight which took 35 minutes. Upon reaching the carrier, the same which it took off from this past May, it touched down and caught the 3 wire with its tailhook at a speed of 145 knots, coming to a dead stop in less than 350 feet. After the first landing, it was launched from the Bush’s catapult and then made a second arrested landing.
The Navy tweeted about the success shortly after it happened, and Ray Mabus – Secretary of the Navy – followed that up with a press statement:
The operational unmanned aircraft soon to be developed have the opportunity to radically change the way presence and combat power are delivered from our aircraft carriers.
Naturally, there is still plenty of testing likely to be done before such drones can be considered ready to go into combat zones. For example, perhaps, automated drone-to-drone refueling is scheduled for some time in 2014, another aspect of the UCAS the Navy is determined to try before deploying them in actual operations. Still, for fans and critics alike, this was a major step.
Which brings us to the darker side of this latest news. For many, a fleet of semi or fully-automated drones is a specter that induces serious terror. Earlier this year, the Obama administration sought to allay fears about the development of the X-47 and the ongoing use of UAVs in combat operations by claiming that steps would be taken to ensure that when it came to life and death decisions, a human would always be at the helm.
But of course, promises have been broken when it comes to the use of drones, which doesn’t inspire confidence here. Just eight days after the Obama Administration promised to cease clandestine operations where drones were used by the CIA to conduct operations in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, one such drone was used to kill Wali ur-Rehman – the second in command of the Pakistani Taliban. This was a direct violation of Obama’s promise that UAVs would be used solely against Al-Qaeda and other known anti-US terrorist groups outside of Afghanistan.
What’s more, the development of unmanned drones that are able to function with even less in the way of human oversight has only added to many people’s fear about how, where, and against whom these drones will be used. Much has gone on that the public is now aware of thanks to the fact that only a handful of people are needed to control them from remote locations. If human agency is further removed, what will this mean for oversight, transparency, and ensuring they are not turned on their own citizens?
But of course, it is important to point out that the X-47B is but an experimental precursor to actual production models of a design that’s yet to be determined. At this point, it is not farfetched to assume that preventative measures will be taken to ensure that no autonomous drone will ever be capable of firing its weapons without permission from someone in the chain of command, or that human control will still be needed during combat phases of an operation. Considering the potential for harm and the controversy involved, it simply makes sense.
But of course, when it comes to issues like these the words “trust us” and “don’t worry” are too often applied by those spearheading the development. Much like domestic surveillance and national security matters, concerned citizens are simply unwilling to accept the explanation that “this will never be used for evil” anymore. At this juncture, the public must stay involved and apprised, and measures instituted from the very beginning.
And be sure to check out this video of the X-47B making its first arrested landing. Regardless of the implications of this latest flight, you have to admit that it was pretty impressive:
People concerned about the use of drones might remember fondly how President Obama, in a speech held late last month, promised that the “drone surge” was effectively at an end. As it turns out, it took the President and his administration only eight days to break that promise. In a new strike, which killed four people it has been made clear that the clandestine war continues.
In Obama’s speech, he contended that “Beyond the Afghan theater, we only target al-Qaida and its associated forces, and even then, the use of drones is heavily constrained.” Among those constraints are the use of detainment instead of execution, and “respect for state sovereignty”. Perhaps most importantly, Obama underscored the drones will for now on only target “terrorists who pose a continuing and imminent threat to the American people.”
To clarify this point, the White House even released a fact sheet clarifying whom it will and will not kill in the future. It stated that:
[T]he United States will use lethal force only against a target that poses a continuing, imminent threat to U.S. persons. It is simply not the case that all terrorists pose a continuing, imminent threat to U.S. persons; if a terrorist does not pose such a threat, the United States will not use lethal force.
However, this latest strike, which took out Wali ur-Rehman – the second in command of the Pakistani Taliban – and three other members shows that this is anything but the case. Rehman and his ilk are not members of Al-Qaeda, nor do they represent a terrorist group that is targeting the US and its citizens. Most importantly, they are not operating inside Afghanistan.
Fact is, Rehman and his compatriots pose a threat to only Pakistan, which is involved in an ongoing war with fundamentalist factions in its western provinces. They are the enemies of the Pakistani state, which is a nominal ally in the war on terror and with the war in Afghanistan. This makes his execution at the hands of the US a matter of protecting political and strategic interests, not anti-terrorism.
What’s more, there are indications that this strike may have been counterproductive for Pakistan. Pakistani military sources told Reuters in December that Rehman was “a more pragmatic” leader than incumbent Hakimullah Mehsud, with whom Rehman was said to be feuding. While Rehman was said to pursue reconciliation with the Pakistani government, the Pakistani military officers speculated that his rise “might lead to more attacks across the border in Afghanistan” on U.S.-led forces.
So any way you slice it, this latest drone strike was a clandestine operation made by a government that claimed to be finished with such things. Lucky for us, there may be a way to gleam the truth about the secret history of the drone war and their ongoing use as tools of government policy.
As it turns out, there are ways to hack and record drone video feeds to see what they see right before they unleash death and destruction. And in an ironic twist, much of the credit for this revelation may go to a group of Iraqi insurgents. In 2008, U.S. troops in Iraq declared that Shi’ite insurgents had figured out how to tap and record video feeds from overhead American drones.
Building on this, Josh Begley, a 28-year-old NYU grad student, is creating a software application that will allow anyone with basic coding skills to organize, analyze and visualize drone-strike data from Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia dating back to 2002. Based on information collected by the U.K. Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the Applicable Programing Interface (API) can be used to create interactive Websites that elaborate on the information and give it context.
The drone API, which is actually Begley’s master’s thesis, is not his first foray into capturing robot-attack data. His @dronestream Twitter feed documents all reported UAV attacks. Last year Begley created an iPhone app that tracks drone strikes, but Apple rejected it. Other developers have jumped on the bandwagon, too. London-based artist James Bridle runs a Tumblr blog that matches overhead satellite imagery to reports of drone attacks.
In an interview with Wired’s Danger Room, Begley explained that the purpose behind this software is the desire to bridge the “empathy gap” between Western audiences and drone-attack victims:
To Americans like me, what may have previously been blank spots on the map all of a sudden have complex stories, voices of their own. From 30,000 feet it might just be cars and buildings. But there are people in them. People who live under the drones we fly.
The public release of Begley’s API, which took five months to complete, is timed to coincide with the White House-promoted National Day of Civic Hacking on June 1. Hacking Day aims to “liberate government data for coders and entrepreneurs.” The ACLU, for one, is commemorating the event with an API linked to the group’s vast database of documents related to U.S.-sanctioned torture of terror suspects.
After twelve years of drone strikes and promises that don’t appear to be being honored, the arrival of this app might just be what the public needs. And even though software giants like Apple may not be interested in developing it further, there are no shortages of talented individuals, professional hackers and hobby labs that will take up the cause.
It wouldn’t be too farfetched to think that a plethora of websites will begin to emerge that can track, monitor, and record all drone strikes, perhaps even as they happen. And combined with recent revelations about state-run data mining operations and software that is being designed to combat it, private citizens may be able to truly fight back against clandestine operations and government surveillance.
The practice of using UAV’s as part of a targeted strategy in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen has become so frequent that its come to characterize the Obama administration’s handling of the “War on Terror”. Reaction to this policy has been increasingly critical, due in no small part to unanswered questions surrounding civilian death tolls and the rapid escalation of deployment. In response, the Obama administration announced this past week that the surge is at an end.
In a speech made to the National Defense University in Washington on Thursday, Obama emphasized that from now on, the use of UAV’s would be in the hand of the military instead of clandestine intelligence organizations such as the CIA. He also indicated that the rules for launching the strikes would be stricter. For instance, there must be a “near certainty” that no civilians will be killed, and the strikes are to become less frequent.
While Obama would not declare an end to the war on terrorism, he did offer to work with Congress to constrain some of his own authorities for waging it, which may include the creation of a court modeled on the secretive one used by the NSA to oversea the surveillance of suspected foreign agents. He also expressed a preference to constrain “and ultimately repeal” the broad latitude of warmaking powers granted in the Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF), an act that was created in 2001 by the Bush administration which is considered the wellspring of the “War on Terror”.
And above all, issues of legality are to take a backseat to the moral and ethical implications raised by ongoing use. Or as he put it: “To say a military tactic is legal, or even effective is not to say it is wise or moral in every instance.”
Naturally, a great many questions remain. In addition to how drones will be used in the years to come to combat terrorism and militants, there’s also questions surrounding their use thus far. Despite pledges made by Obama that changes will be made, the history of the program is still shrouded in mystery. Fittingly, Bloomberg Businessweek created a map to serve as a reminder of the scope of that program, calling it the first ever “comprehensive compilation of all known lethal U.S. drone attacks.”
It should be noted though that the numbers represent an estimate which were compiled with the help of the nonprofit Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Sources in Washington apparently offer a wide range of numbers, and the State Department remains hush hush on the issue of casualties. However, the estimates presented in this infographic still present a stark and sobering picture:
Yemen: at least 552 killed between 2002 and 2013. The site of the first ever drone strike in 2002.
Pakistan: at least 2,561 killed between 2004 and 2013.
Somalia: at least 23 killed between 2011 and 2012.
Naturally, it is hoped that Obama’s promise to curb the use of drones represents a renewed commitment to comply with international law, treaties and human rights. However, what was apparently missing from the speech was an indication about how easy it will be to get information about strikes that are made in the future. According to the New York Times’ Mark Mazzetti, who provided live analysis of the speech, Obama’s speech didn’t address the issue:
One of the big outstanding questions is just how transparent the Obama administration will be about drone strikes in the future. Will administration officials begin to publicly confirm strikes after they happen?
There was no mention of this in the speech, and it is telling that the president did not mention the C.I.A. at all. It seems quite certain that past operations in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere are not going to be declassified anytime soon.
Also, moving operations from the C.I.A. to the Pentagon does not automatically mean that the strikes will be publicly discussed. The Pentagon is carrying out a secret drone program in Yemen right now, and it is very difficult to get information about those operations.
So… promises to curb the use of drones have been made, as well as promises to create some kind of oversight for future operations. And this does seem consistent with many of the criticisms made about the ongoing war on terrorism, specifically the Bush administrations handling of it and how his reliance on special executive powers were unlawful and unconstitutional.
But until such time as information on how these strikes occur and who is being killed, the issue will remain a contentious and divisive one. So long as governments can wage war with automated or remote machinery and kill people without transparency and in secrecy, will this not constitute a form of illegal – or at the very least, a very opaque – warfare?
Hey gamers! Today, I will be wrapping things up in my Modern Warfare commentary with my review of the third and final game in the MW series. Having just purchased it a few weeks ago, and played it through for the second time, I can honestly say that I was pretty pleased with it.
As the climax to the series, it was chock full of action and expanded on many of the strengths from the first and second games. And of course, it took things a step further from the last, developing the multiplayer and special ops features even more. This consisted of larger, more detailed environments, more immersive game features, and plenty of new weapons and added features. But of course, all of that takes a bit of a backseat, at least in this reviewers mind, to the plot.
Naturally, it had its share of drawbacks too, most which were similarly consistent with the previous installments. There were plot holes, some over-the-top elements, and an unnecessary scene (which, like last time, pushed the boundaries of good taste). But overall, I’d say it was a fitting and very fun final installment. But like I said, the plot first…
Plot Synopsis:
The story picks up where MW2 left off, with a grand introduction that lets the player know that they are now in the midst of World War 3. In fact, that’s probably one of the coolest aspects of the intro, where after a montage of chaotic scenes from the first two games, we see WW3, and then the first letter flips to reveal the title MW3. Effective, and accurate since the actions of Makarov and Shepherd in the last game led to an open state of war between the Russian bloc and the US.
The intro then extends to a movie/flash-back scene where what is left of Task Force 141 is heading to a field hospital run by Russian Loyalists in northern India. Things in this scene take place from Soap’s POV as Nikolai and Price are hauling him off the chopper and rushing to get him inside. All the while, Soap experiences flash-backs of everything that brought them to this point, including Zakhaev’s death, Makarov’s terrorist acts, and Soap killing General Shepherd. Price’s voice provides narration, saying how the actions of one man can change the world, even bring it all to the precipice.
Once inside, they begin fighting to save Soap’s life. However, matters are complicated when Makarov’s forces arrive on the scene hoping to take out Soap and Price and anyone helping them. Here, you play as Yuri, one of Nikolai’s men, and are tasked with defeating the assault with the help of a remote-controlled drone. Together, the four of you (Soap, Price, Nikolai and Yuri) escape together, as the last of the now-disavowed Task Force 141.
Cut to New York City, where the Russian offensive against the Eastern Seaboard continues. Here, you change POV’s to a member of Delta Force Team Metal named Frost, which is being sent in to Manhattan to take out a Russian jamming device which is preventing US forces from achieving air superiority.
The fight takes you through the streets of downtown Manhattan and into the NYSE, which is itself being occupied by Russian troops. Once you reach the roof and destroy the device, US air forces move in and take out the remaining Russian choppers and Migs, and you get to fly around in a Blackbird and gun some down yourself!
Next, your team joins a bunch of SEALS as you head underwater to take on the Russian fleet that is still occupying the East River. This journey involves traveling through the Lincoln Tunnel, now underwater, and then into the river itself, avoiding Russian mines along the way. Once you reach the sub and force it surface with some charges, board the sub and take out its crew, you set the sub’s ordinance to target all remaining Russian ships in the harbor and make a daring escape on zodiacs.
With this latest victory, the Russian assault on the US which began in MW2 is now defeated. Afterward, Russian President Boris Vorshevsky announces plans to make peace with the United States at a summit in Hamburg. However, Makarov’s men hijack the president’s airfcraft, causing it to crash land while you (playing from the POV of one of his protective detail).
Once on the ground, you and the other survivors rush to find him and his daughter, but Makarov arrives, taking the President hostage and shooting you. In your last seconds, you hear Makarov demanding the launch codes to Russia’s nuclear stockpile, saying he will see Russia standing over Europe, even if it’s a pile of ash.
After recovering from his wounds, Soap and Task Force 141 proceed to Sierra Leone where they are told Makarov’s bomb maker is hiding. After fighting your way through the local villages, which are in the midst of being raided by local warlords, you find your way to the pick up point. Unfortunately, the shipment of chemical weapons is shipped out via helicopter seconds before you arrive. Price then calls up his contacts in the SAS, warning them that the targets are London, Paris and Berlin.
The POV once again shifts to an SAS unit in London which is tasked with raiding one of Makarov’s store houses along the Thames. After an intense chase, which takes you through the London Undergound and back up to Big Ben, the main attack (against Parliament) is thwarted. However, you soon learn that one of the other trucks made it to its destination nearby and is detonated, killing hundreds of people in the immediate vicinity. Similar detonations happen in Berlin and Paris, paving the way for a Russian invasion and World War III.
Team Metal is then sent to Hamburg to rescue the US Vice-President who is still there. The invasion scene calls to mind COD’s many awesome recreations of historic WWII battles, in particular D-Day. After landing on the riverfront and fighting your way up into the streets, you are to provide cover for the tanks as they make their ways down the boulevards to where the VP’s convoy got stranded. Also, you get to be a tank gunner in this mission (finally!), and take out enemy infantry while the M1A1 drives around and blasts the crap out of enemy vehicles.
Meanwhile, Task 141 heads to Somalia to track down a local warlord who was also involved in the shipment of the chemical weapons. After taking him prisoner, Price learns the name and location of Makarov’s bomb maker – a man named Volk who is currently in Paris.
Task Force 141 heads there and teams up with the French GIGN to capture Volk, which involves making your way through some chemical-infested areas. After taking him prisoner, you are then required to get out of Paris before Russian troops can overtake you. Ultimately, this ends in a desperate airlift off of a bridge as the Eiffel Tower is bombed and falls in the distance.
Volk gives up Makarov’s location, who he says will in Prague for a high-level meeting . The next mission involves infiltrating the occupied city with the help of an old friend – the Loyalist commander Kamarov (not to be confused with Makarov, damn anagrams!) As Yuri, you and Soap take up a sniping position in a church overlooking the hotel where the meeting is going down.
However, the op goes awry when Price gets inside and sees that Makorov has taken Kamarov (again, anagrams!) hostage and is onto them. He then sets off a series of bombs which kill Kamarov and blow up the bell tower, sending Soap and Yuri out the window and down onto a scaffolding.
Before the explosion, Makarov reveals that he knows Yuri, information which Soap gives to Price once the three make it to cover. Soap dies on a table from wounds sustained in the fall, and Price puts a gun to Yuri’s head and demands explanations.
Yuri then tells him that he used to be a soldier in Zakhaev’s army, whereupon he met Makarov. Through a series of flashbacks that show events from MW1 and 2, we see that Yuri was there with Makarov when Price shot his arm off outside of Pripyat in the early 90’s.
He was also there when Zakhaev detonated the nuke he gave to Al-Asad, destroying the capitol and killing thousands of American Marines and millions of civilians. Finally, he was there when Makarov and his men murdered hundreds of civilians in the Moscow International Airport. Yuri attempted to prevent the massacre, but was shot by Makarov beforehand, leaving him to die amongst his many other victims.
Having heard all this, Price decides to let Yuri live and begins planning an assault on Makarov’s fortress in the Czech Republic. As Yuri, you storm the old castle and learn that Makarov is holding Russian President Vorshevsky captive and is seeking to capture his daughter who is in Berlin. Rescuing her becomes a priority now, as the President continues to refuse to hand over the launch codes, but wis likely to reconsider if Makarov threatens to kill his daughter. Yuri and Price destroy the base and relay the information to Team Metal.
Switching back to Frost’s POV, you and your team are now responsible for fighting your way through Berlin, which is still contested, and finding the President’s daughter before Makarov’s men do. In the course of this mission, things go sideways, Frost is killed, and the President’s daughter is taken.
However, they are tracked to a Siberian diamond mine where Makarov’s men are also holding the President. A joint strike is planned to rescue both from the mine, which succeeds, even though Metal’s team leader (Sandman) is forced to stay behind and sacrifice himself.
With the Russian President and his daughter alive and well, he travels to D.C. where a truce is declared and all forces with withdrawn. WWIII is over, but PRice is still determined to find Makarov and make him pay for his crimes. In a final mission, he and Yuri travel to hotel in Dubai where they learn Makarov is staying. Now, as Price, you and Yuri break into the buidling wearing Juggernaut suits and fight your way to Makarov on the top floor.
In the ensuing chase, Yuri is impaled and he and Price lose your armor. Price then corners Makarov on the roof as he attempts to board a chopper and the two fight. Makarov gets the upper hand and nearly shoots Price, but Yuri manages to intervene and is shot dead by Makarov. Enraged at the loss of another comrade, Price grabs a hold of Makarov and beats the holy hell out of him.
Realizing that they are also lying on a glass roof that is about to break, he ties the chopper’s metal line around his neck and falls through the roof with him. Makarov is hung while Price falls to a landing below. With Makarov dead and his work done, he pulls himself up and lights a cigar. Mission accomplished!
Summary: First off, let me just say that this game is stupid-fun! I mean, holy shit, the action and intensity! Boom! Boom! Explosions! Russians! Thugs and militiamen! Urban warfare and infiltration, predators and submarines! Yeah, it was pretty damn bad-ass. They essentially took what they started in MW2, which was to push the boundaries by putting war directly on American soil, and pushed it that extra mile. That was the aim of course, picking up where the last left off with World War III in the wings.
And they expanded on the warfare by adding new environments, most of which involved destroying landmarks and historic places! And there new twists on the available missions, involving underwater infiltration, working with local resistance, tank gunning and wearing a Juggernaut suit. And like last time, they threw in the AC-130 gunships and predators, giving you the ability to deal death from above. Always nice! On top of that, they really went the extra mile to mix up the action. Fighting aboard a jet airliner while it’s in a nose dive, effectively leading to a zero-g gunfight.
As for the multiplayer and special ops, things are similarity awesome. The multiplayer feature has been upgraded with new weapons, new game profiles, and more options, all taken to the extreme! Endless hours of entertainment are available here for those who have a fast machine and internet connection. As for the special ops, things are much the same, but with some noteworthy additions. For example, in the special ops section, there’s the added Survival option alongside the usual Mission feature. In the former, you fight in different environments against increasingly difficult enemies, each win allowing you to upgrade your weapons and options. In the latter, you’re doing much the same as in game two, fighting in different scenarios with different goals, unlocking new missions as you go
I also enjoyed the flashbacks, where material from the first and second installment was included. It was pretty seamless they way they did that. It even added some explanations and background which added a moment or two of plausibility to the plot. Providing Makarov with a dossier was something they neglected to do in the second game, which left a lot of questions of where he came from and why he was conducting terrorism against his own people, especially since the Ultranationalist are supposed to be in charge at that point.
But of course, there was some problems in and around all that. For one, the game shifts locations so often that you really begin to question how the main characters are able to move so much. Especially Task Force 141; how do they get from India to Sierra Leone to Somalia to Europe to Siberia with such ease? All this feels highly unrealistic, especially since this Task Force has been disavowed and don’t have access to government resources anymore. Is Nikolai flying them everywhere? How is he able to do this? What kinds of resources does this guy have?
And for that matter, there’s the issue of Makarov. In this game, his abilities and resources are even more staggering than in the last one. Isn’t this guy supposed to be a freelance terrorist? How then is he able to find an endless supply of men, guns, choppers and chemical weapons to fund his crusade against the west? In Zakhaev’s case, it was understandable. He was leader of a Russian Ultranationist faction in the middle of a civil war. He had almost half the resources of the Russian military at his disposal, including a nuke or two.
But as I recall, his movement went on to win power after he was killed. After that, Makarov took his place and continues the campaign, clearly not happy with the extent to which the Russian government has gone and wanting it to go further. Makes sense, and since General Shepherd was helping to create WWIII, some of what he pulled of in MW2 made sense. But this time around? The way he is able to always get away, take the Russian President hostage, allude the SAS and Task Force 141, and start WWIII is all kind of ridiculous. It’s like the Joker in The Dark Knight, where the villain has some massive master plan and is somehow prepared for everything.
And there was a small trace of the same controversial aspect that made MW2 a bit iffy. This time around, they avoided the scenes of big shoot ups in crowded airports. Most importantly, you aren’t the one doing it! I still don’t get that, that was messed up! However, there is the one scene where you watch one of the chemical bombs going off in the middle of a London street. It all takes place from the POV of a father who’s recording a video of his wife and little daughter as they walk along the sidewalk and point to Big Ben. Then boom! The truck blows up, and the little girl and mother are the first to die. It’s not gruesome or graphic, but what the hell? Was it really necessary to illustrate how bad the bad guys are? We already know they’re setting off bombs in civilian centers and shot up an airport. What else needs to be said?
In the end, the weaknesses smack of a plot where the creators are trying too hard. More action, more locations, more twists, more adventure. It all makes for a pretty skookum gaming experience, but it’s not what you’d call in-depth, and it’s definitely not what you call realistic. But of course, all that can be overlooked the moment you remember that it’s a first-person shooter! Be thankful you get a plot at all, fool! Now get back to shooting stuff and blowing shit up!
In any developmental milestone, the X-47B made its first arrested landing aboard an aircraft carrier yesterday. This latest test, which comes after a successful arrested landing on an airstrip and a successful deployment from an aircraft carrier, may help signal a new era for the use of unmanned aircraft in military operations.
Aircraft landings on a carrier are a tricky endeavor even for experienced pilots, as the ship’s flight deck is hardly spacious, and rises, falls, and sways with the ocean waves. To stop their forward momentum in the shortest distance possible, carrier aircraft have a hook on the underside of the fuselage that latches onto cables stretched across the flight deck. This means that pilots need to land precisely to grab the hook and come to a complete stop in time.
The Navy tweeted about the success shortly after it happened, and Ray Mabus – Secretary of the Navy – followed that up with a press statement:
But of course, promises have been broken when it comes to the use of drones, which doesn’t inspire confidence here. Just eight days after the Obama Administration promised to cease clandestine operations where drones were used by the CIA to conduct operations in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, one such drone was used to kill Wali ur-Rehman – the second in command of the Pakistani Taliban. This was a direct violation of Obama’s promise that UAVs would be used solely against Al-Qaeda and other known anti-US terrorist groups outside of Afghanistan.
But of course, it is important to point out that the X-47B is but an experimental precursor to actual production models of a design that’s yet to be determined. At this point, it is not farfetched to assume that preventative measures will be taken to ensure that no autonomous drone will ever be capable of firing its weapons without permission from someone in the chain of command, or that human control will still be needed during combat phases of an operation. Considering the potential for harm and the controversy involved, it simply makes sense.
Stories by Williams 