> If it was possible to distribute secret keys during WW2, surely it's also possible in 2009 - probably a great deal faster and more efficiently. Not really. T

> If it was possible to distribute secret keys during WW2, surely it's also possible in 2009 - probably a great deal faster and more efficiently. Not really. Think how widely these keys would have to be spread to have any use. The drones are often used for immediate intervention: i.e. if needed they are launched to provide forward intelligence to units on the ground. That kind of key management is a nightmare: especially when you think other nationalities/agencies/services might require the feed instantly too. It would be a perfect setup to have encryption and key management - and I expect that technically a structure could be set up to do it securely. But one important feature of battlefields is that they get extremely confused and disorganised - it would break down at key moments, and regularly. The key to battlefield tech is always simpicity. So it's a tradeoff; one that doesn't seem to have worked out badly so far.