Navy has first test flight of X-47, unmanned, no human operator, half billion $, killbot

SLSteven said:
Would possession of these things be protected by the 2nd amendment?
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The second amendment doesn't afford you any additional rights you do not naturally possess. However, by placing it in a document which is to be interpreted by the most powerful criminal gang in the history of humans, you're not likely to get the answer you seek, especially considering most of them don't even want you to have a pistol.
 
AquaBuddha2010 said:
Isn't it interesting that we devise machines that do the killing for us?

It used to be that war was two groups of men violently and personally chopping each other's limbs off. Now we kill people by remote control airplane.

I wonder what effect this has on us?
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More desensitization.

Why do most people are all pro-police and support taxation not go around and police and steal money from others themselves, because they're too uncomfortable to do that. That's why they create guys with fancy blue uniforms and badges.

The same goes with war. The majority of those who are pro-war would never dream of operating a tank or shooting someone.

The more you automate such activities, the more you remove the human factor from the equation and the threat of an individual suffering from cognitive dissidence possibly resisting the expansion and tyranny.

Humans are naturally socially altruistic and good the more closer they are to a person physically. When it is just one person and another, they are almost bound to help and work together. Adding more people does lower those attitudes due to the bystander effect and diffused responsibility, but it is still there. Get rid of the human element all together and it's a wet dream for petty dictators and oligarchies.
 
hmm... operated by remote computer? Then it's not totally stealth.

It has to send and receive data somehow so it has to transmit over a detectable frequency.

Setup a couple of tracking towers and you could triangulate it's position in real time, even if you couldn't decipherer the data. Heck, just track fast moving transmission would be enough in a remote enough area.

Now... if it operates in a blackout mode and only follows directives such as "fly here.. drop bomb there... fly back" it would be harder to deal with. Unfortunately that limits its battlefield role as it would operate for hours without input, and things change on the fly.
 
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EvilEngineer said:
hmm... operated by remote computer? Then it's not totally stealth.

It has to send and receive data somehow so it has to transmit over a detectable frequency.

Setup a couple of tracking towers and you could triangulate it's position in real time, even if you couldn't decipherer the data. Heck, just track fast moving transmission would be enough in a remote enough area.

Now... if it operates in a blackout mode and only follows directives such as "fly here.. drop bomb there... fly back" it would be harder to deal with. Unfortunately that limits its battlefield role as it would operate for hours without input, and things change on the fly.
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I imagine that "burst" transmissions in the µs duration would handle updates, and that would be passive reception, so I can't see how the drone itself could be triangulated.

From what it sounds like, it seems like the "blackout" mode of operation is more likely.
 
Anti Federalist said:
I imagine that "burst" transmissions in the µs duration would handle updates, and that would be passive reception, so I can't see how the drone itself could be triangulated.

From what it sounds like, it seems like the "blackout" mode of operation is more likely.
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Well, it says in the article, "The X-47B can be operated entirely by a computer", wouldn't that mean the computer is in the aircraft and it can be autonomous and require no update during it's mission?
 
Kludge said:
So guns are supposed to be the great equalizer, right?

Well, what are we supposed to do about this?

Maybe Danke's on to something with libertarians joining the military...
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Finally come to the realization that the second amendment includes this....

hires_IMG_4381b.jpg
 
Dr.3D said:
Well, it says in the article, "The X-47B can be operated entirely by a computer", wouldn't that mean the computer is in the aircraft and it can be autonomous and require no update during it's mission?
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That's my understanding of it, release and kill.

No further human contact needed.

Although I'm sure there has to be an option to contact the unit once underway to alter/abort/update the mission parameters.
 
Time to start working on those garage built Electromagnetic Pulse weapons.

I have some old microwaves around here somewhere
 
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Dr.3D said:
Well, it says in the article, "The X-47B can be operated entirely by a computer", wouldn't that mean the computer is in the aircraft and it can be autonomous and require no update during it's mission?
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I think you people greatly underestimate the amount of time/effort it would take to create a program even semi-close to being able to autonomously fly an airplane. From the article, it sounds like they can give the thing some co-ordinates, probably some kind of elevation map for its flight path, and it'll basically fly a pre-determined path there and back. As for writing some kind of software where this thing could make autonomous decisions on the fly? No way, it's probably closely monitored at all times by someone on the ground via satellite that is giving it instructions as necessary. By automated, they mean a pilot doesn't have to physically control the thing at all times like a predator drone...
 
silver linings

This is one of the reasons economic collapse is your friend. When the government checks start bouncing or are written in currency nobody wants, the construction of these death machines comes to a grinding halt.
 
Acala said:
This is one of the reasons economic collapse is your friend. When the government checks start bouncing or are written in currency nobody wants, the construction of these death machines comes to a grinding halt.
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LOL. Except the defense contractors can still make money selling this crap to other tyrants. :mad:
 
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