This Drone Test Changes Everything About Unmanned Aerial Warfare

[xchrom]

http://www.businessinsider.com/x-47b-drone-lands-on-aircraft-carrier-2013-7



Today, off the coast of Virginia on the USS George H.W. Bush, the U.S. Navy successfully landed an X-47B drone aboard an aircraft carrier for the first time.

"It isn't very often you get a glimpse of the future," Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said in an official Navy release.

The landing of the fighter jet-sized drone, which is larger than the Predator drones common in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen, represents a watershed moment in the wielding of unmanned aerial vehicles.

"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," Mabus added.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/x-47b-drone-lands-on-aircraft-carrier-2013-7#ixzz2Yk9Hv56w

[sbh]

1. That's somewhat disturbing.

[adirondacker]

2. I guess that's one way to solve the shitter problem on the USS Stinker...

for reference...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/checkpoint-washington/post/naval-ship-faces-chronic-toilet-outages-at-sea/2011/11/15/gIQALCZ3QN_blog.html

[MrScorpio]

3. "Fear The Sky" - The movie, "Stealth" (2005)

[Savannahmann]

4. And so it begins

No science fiction writer has ever seen this end well. So of course continue.

[whatchamacallit]

5. For some reason drone warfare makes me think of this exchange from Dog Day Afternoon

Sonny: You'd like to kill me? Bet you would.
Sheldon: I wouldn't like to kill you. I will if I have to.
Sonny: It's your job, right? The guy who kills me... I hope he does it because he hates my guts, not because it's his job.

[jojog]

6. Reminds me of Battlestar Galactica