Drone Wars. Science fiction or science fact?

[Bren]

The Future is now...things that 20 years ago were just part of science fiction (The Terminator) seem now to be science fact. A US Drone has killed 13 people in Pakistan. Watch out Cyberdyne may be disguised as your local US Army outfit....


MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) - Missiles fired by U.S. drones killed 13 people, including 7 foreign militants, on Monday in a Pakistani village where a religious school founded by an old friend of Osama bin Laden is located, intelligence officials and witnesses said.

"There were two drones and they fired three missiles," said a resident of Dandi Darpakheil, a village in the North Waziristan tribal region near the Afghan border.
A military official said a house and madrasa founded by Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani were the targets.



full story here (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080908/ts_nm/pakistan_violence_dc)

[munterk6]

yeah....and your point is...?

did you not know that the planes that hit the WTC were remote controlled?
and Santas reindeer are robotic... the yanks are always testing something new...thats why they have wars. :niceone:

[Bren]

yeah....and your point is...?

did you not know that the planes that hit the WTC were remote controlled?
and Santas reindeer are robotic... the yanks are always testing something new...thats why they have wars. :niceone:


my point being that science fiction is becoming science fact once again...i knew there were drones about...but now they are killin people...

[Jez]

my point being that science fiction is becoming science fact once again...i knew there were drones about...but now they are killin people...
well not really ... thats like saying its the rifle killing a person, not the person using the rifle.

the drones in question are not autonomous, they are controlled via remote satellite link-up by someone sitting in an air-conditioned office back in the states. If any drones were flying around without any direct control from a person, then they would require a huge amount of programming, and as someone who knows a bit about programming i can assure you that computers are not known for deviating from their program, in that case it is the programmer that tells the computer what to do, and the computer follows it to the letter.

however for the sake of sensationalism the media (and yourself) have chosen to just say that "drones killed people" ... so lets not let facts get in the way of that :laugh:

[Swoop]

Correct.
The drone "pilots" are also equipped with HD camera footage...
The pilot has to fire the missile and then orbits the area to record the damage. All nicely filmed in closeup HD.

The stress that these folks are under is immense. Previous conflicts allowed fast moving aircraft to do one pass and then depart the scene for cocktails and medals.

These guys (predominantly younger Playbox, X-Station generation) are seeing the results of their work.

Needless to say that the Air Farce's "Trick Cyclists" are being worked overtime because of this.

[hazard02]

We've moved from using UAVs primarily in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance roles before Operation Iraqi Freedom, to a true hunter-killer role with the Reaper.

I don't know whether the Reaper is the drone that was deployed in Pakistan, but these unmanned combat aircraft are getting pretty scary.

[The Stranger]

as someone who knows a bit about programming i can assure you that computers are not known for deviating from their program


Never worked with Windoze I see.

[Jez]

Never worked with Windoze I see.

no i generally work with Jade, Java and C++ programming languages ... and even on windows they do exactly what they are programmed to do ...

Microsoft have a habit of releasing software without thorough beta testing due to the deadlines they set for release, the service packs are the fixes for the majority of these bugs, however with an operating system doing 1000's of tasks per second under vastly different circumstances and hardware setups you would have to beta test for a very long time in order to catch them all.

The "Drones" in question would be programmed (im guessing here) with co-ordinates for the target and alternate targets, payload to be delivered, multiple egress routes, and atmospheric conditions ... they wouldnt have the ability to decide autonomously if they should drop their payload on a random target ... and with all this happening their would be some poor sod in an air condition office in the pentagon with absolute control over the drone also getting a Hi-Def full motion reply of the carnage he would have helped deliver ... not a job i would fancy being part of personally, ill just stick to writing programs for insurance companies and banks thankyou ;)

[Swoop]

:shit::shit::wari::wari:

[bogan]

well not really ... thats like saying its the rifle killing a person, not the person using the rifle.

skynet cant hack your rifle though!!

but i do agree, there nothing wrong with drones unless they are hacked, which im sure the US military is taking every precaution to avoid... wait... US military.... RUN FOR YOUR LIVES

[MisterD]

but i do agree, there nothing wrong with drones unless they are hacked,

This is the US Military, (aka Friendly Fire R US ) we're talking about, right?

[Mikkel]

Drone war.
Crusade.
Jihad.

Same shit different name - robots at war.

[Magua]

Missiles fired by U.S. drones killed 13 people, including 7 foreign militants So who were the other six people killed?

[Oscar]

Correct.
The drone "pilots" are also equipped with HD camera footage...
The pilot has to fire the missile and then orbits the area to record the damage. All nicely filmed in closeup HD.

The stress that these folks are under is immense. Previous conflicts allowed fast moving aircraft to do one pass and then depart the scene for cocktails and medals.

These guys (predominantly younger Playbox, X-Station generation) are seeing the results of their work.

Needless to say that the Air Farce's "Trick Cyclists" are being worked overtime because of this.


I'm sure that the family and friends of the people whose existence is suddenly and violently snuffed out are very concerned about the stress that drone operators suffer.

This is little more than state sanctioned murder, in what is officially an Allied Nation. There are no good guy left in this conflict.

[R6_kid]

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is an unpiloted aircraft. UAVs come in two varieties: some are controlled from a remote location, and others fly autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans using more complex dynamic automation systems. Currently, UAVs perform reconnaissance as well as attack missions. They are also used in a small but growing number of civil applications, such as firefighting. UAVs are often preferred for missions that are too "dull, dirty, or dangerous" for manned aircraft. - from wikipedia.

The majority of them are as Swoop said, controlled from the back of a Hummer or in a Portacom close to the theatre of operation.

There are however also variants that are beginning to run autonomously, flying pre-programmed flight plans and orbits over a prescribed area, they have target recognition systems but I believe that at the moment still require a human to approve firing on a target.

Of course, they are also being put to use in other more helpful ways as well
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060418004650.htm

[R6_kid]

I'm sure that the family and friends of the people whose existence is suddenly and violently snuffed out are very concerned about the stress that drone operators suffer.

This is little more than state sanctioned murder, in what is officially an Allied Nation. There are no good guy left in this conflict.

And if their friends and associates were plotting to kill your family that would be unsanctioned, but it's no better.

An eye for an eye, its the way the world has always been. When you realise that humans are just animals with more brain power than the rest of the food chain it's not so hard to swallow. Just be thankful you live in an obscure island nation in the middle of nowhere that doesn't put itself forward as a target for middle eastern terrorists.

[Oscar]

And if their friends and associates were plotting to kill your family that would be unsanctioned, but it's no better.

An eye for an eye, its the way the world has always been. When you realise that humans are just animals with more brain power than the rest of the food chain it's not so hard to swallow. Just be thankful you live in an obscure island nation in the middle of nowhere that doesn't put itself forward as a target for middle eastern terrorists.

You're good with the obvious.

The point is that the USA and the West are supposed to be the good guys here.
God knows how many people have died in this conflict, where one of the core beliefs is to bring Western Democracy and Rule of Law to these places.

Modern Democracies (or Republics in the US case) are supposed to be past extra-legal killing and torture. The bad guys do that.

In this case the bad guys are terrorist criminals, sure - but under our system even terrorist criminals get due process. What the USA is doing not only ignores due process of the law (and several international treaties), they kill innocent civillains as well.

I ask you again, who are the good guys?

[pzkpfw]

Arms dealers.

Money's good, right?

[CookMySock]

Damn, must get me one of those. Drones that fire missiles - way cool!

Steve