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Remote-controlled war planes will probably return to being thought of as a niche/specialist weapon after the first time they are launched against an enemy with
by asciilifeform 17y ago
Remote-controlled war planes will probably return to being thought of as a niche/specialist weapon after the first time they are launched against an enemy with some actual engineering know-how. (Consider battery/solar-powered Tesla coils lofted on weather balloons, by the hundreds. Hell, spoofing GPS will probably do the trick.) Any signal can be jammed - especially a critically real-time one.
- ugh 17y agoGiven good enough automation, critical real-time signals will become unnecessary.
- asciilifeform 17y agoBarring Strong AI, the ultimate command to fire will remain under human (remote) control. Navigation also requires a radio signal (unless you can shrink the mechanical inertial guidance system used in submarines to a flyable size; this is not only difficult but would likely raise the cost of the drones to heights extraordinary even by US military standards.)
- ghshephard 17y agoNavigation does not require a radio system. Terrain Contour Matching aided by by Inertial Navigation Systems allows for fully autonomous navigation - They had this working with 1970s era Technology (Try and recall what a computer was like in the Mid 1970s and continue to be amazed at what engineers could get to work in a missile) It was a big deal in Canada in the Late 80s/Early 90s - the United States used to test their (hopefully unarmed) cruise missiles over Canada - presumably we had a terrain profile that was useful to them. Or maybe it was the long stretches of unpopulated environment. Now consider what your typical iPhone would be capable of doing. (Compass, GPS, Terrain Maps, Camera, Radio Signal...)