RAF buys spy planes to monitor enemies from the sky

[Janet Spongthrush]

nose job!

G-DOSC arrived back from Old Sarum yesterday morning and today was flying with a different nosecone at Boscombe Down:

[bjcc]

On it's way into Boscombe, with another view of that camera...!

Flickr Photo Download: DA42 Diamond Star

[fltlt]

Bandwidth, bandwidth, bandwidth. That is what is driving the move away from unmanned. The Mk 1 eyeball/Mk 1 brain is a heck of a lot more efficient in filtering what to send/not send, than oceans of blue with a little biddy sail boat somewhere on it. Satellite's are extremely expensive, relatively short lived and not exactly TOT oriented. Another thing long forgotten is that situational awareness is expotentially degraded by distance from theater, even with the all singing, all dancing sensors. The Bekaar Valley come to anyones mind?
Just my tuppence worth.