Fire Scout and UAV news.

[tkobo]

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/North ... t_999.html

... was credited with providing critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) support to special operations forces and U.S. Navy anti-piracy actions during the system's second at-sea deployment

In the six-month deployment, the system flew for more than 435 hours and maintained a high sortie completion rate of more than 80 percent.

[tkobo]

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... ut-364239/

and

http://www.uasvision.com/2011/08/08/new ... -aircraft/

[tkobo]

the firescout has now been deployed,and is even as i type this being used to moniter and cahse pirates off the african coast

[Col_Travis]

Don't forget there deployment in Washington DC and New York city.

[elmonstruo]

You know, I don't mind using tech to keep soldiers out of harm's way, but I also worry about leaning too heavily on machine crutches. Like the passengers in Wall-e or the Dahleks, we are going to end up as gelatinous blobs unable to even wipe our own bums without our machines to do it for us if we don't watch out.

-Light

i absolutely agree with u we cant become too reliant on technolgy. they need to be more careful about these advances in technology i dont want robotic machines taking over the world.

[Chesehead]

If you want a hot career field, the US chair force seems to be having problems getting enough operators. Personally, I think UAV's are great for COIN work, but in a major war, they'll be useless since they can be jammed they make easy targets.

[tkobo]

Theyve have to up the age limit and drop the uniform requirement

[Col_Travis]

They currently are DHS who are using them to spy on the American people. Big Brother is watch you!

[Chesehead]

Theyve have to up the age limit and drop the uniform requirement

ABU's are amazingly comfy, and pilot suits are like wearing pajamas.

[tkobo]

i dislike uniforms,mostly because they are uniforms.They could consist of the most comfy clothing known to man, and id still not want to wear them every working day.

And the age cutoff for normal airforce is about 27,possibly 35? for officers...both are far too low for me.

And of course theres that whole rest of the culture...my patience is far too thin,and my common sense far too strong for things to work out as good as they should in such a setting .

-----
back on direct topic.

K-max has been given a second tour extension,into 2013 now.With circa 500 sorties flown in 2010 alone, and over 1.6mil pounds of supplies delivered,its very successfully reducing the need for supply convoys.Its also now proven its very capable of hover hookups,meaning cargo can go in both directions.

[Chesehead]

http://news.yahoo.com/darpa-unveils-robotic-mule.html

Not quite flying, but still pretty cool. Given one of these, you could probably give a squad some crew served weapons and double their firepower.

[tkobo]

Did you see darpa's work on using liquids to work as camoflage to hide objects.I ask because one of the vids for it is listed in one of the side lists on youtube for some of the videos about this vehicle and the video about how a darpa robot just beat the human land speed record.

[Chesehead]

No, but I've heard things here and there that the AF has been working on something similar as a paint that changes color with its surroundings. I figured they had hit a brick wall and canceled the program.

[tkobo]

iran recently reported thru its state news,that it had successfully tested its first VTOL drone,but it turns out the photos it had in the story to support their claim,where photo shopped versions of photos taken of a japanese VTOL drone back in 2008 for chiba univ.

[tkobo]

http://jacksonville.com/military/jax-ai ... oming-home

squadron members broke new ground in the field of rotary wing aviation by being the first to deploy aboard a U.S. Navy ship with four vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicles (VTUAVs)

On a frigate by the way.