Been reading SHAR WARs eh? Well, I think the Government needs changing.
As for UAVs, I doubt very much that they are something we need to worry about. Remember the demise of manned aircraft was predicted before, by Duncan Sandys in 1957. I consider that UAVs will never have much of a combat role, except on the periphery.
As an Engineer I consider that the problems inherent in controlling those things, particularly if they are heavily armed, will be prohibitive. For example, what happens if you need to do a sortie during a rain shower? If you are depending on RF/Microwave links to the UAV, or satellite links, to communicate with the vehicle, then the loss caused by precipitation would cause the S/N ratio (and hence the bit rate) to fall like a stone dropped off of a cliff. What if the sorties is over several hundred miles or futher?
Then there is the issue of which is in control, the ground station
or the vehicle? Can you reliably ID aircraft or ground targets with what is basically a robot? Do you trust technology enough to put bombs/missiles on a robot without having a human there on the spot controlling things? Will UCAVs be acceptable to the public? After all, I doubt if many people would fly in an unmanned airliner, so why would they be happy seeing these things armed?
Having a pilot in the cockpit has saved the day in many situations which nearly ended up with friendly fire or civillan casaulties. Plus of course getting rid of the pilot will mean introducing much more instrumentation, computers and other stuff. This will make them more expensive than aircraft.
So should pilots worry about UAVs? Not in my opinion.
Last edited by WE Branch Fanatic; 10th May 2002 at 16:17.