Even worse, Terry - imagine when someone is arguably accountable (in the military sense) ... such as in the widespread practice of putting a PFC in places where he/she should never have been assigned without intense supervision. Does the name "Bradley Manning" come to mind in this context? (BTW this is not the question of whether 'he' is a 'she' :)
After all - this is the USN so there will always be someone to blame! for each and every error, no matter how many layers of command are isolated, and it will not be an officer even if the error is egregious! Instead, the designated scapegoat will mostly likely be a console jockey on the control deck of a billion dollar vessel, staffed mostly by high-school dropouts - with joy-stick in hand. Even worse, and especially when PFCs are operating the controls, the scapegoat will have been selected based on skills developed from spending most of their adult life (last two years) at the game arcade center instead of study hall. And even worse, when their 'patriotism' is coached by idiot commentators from Fox Network like Palin, then anyone on the left has a big bulls-eye target painted on their back (or house). Imagine a far-right version of Bradley Manning, big supporter of Rush Bimbo - at the controls of one of these very fast, probably stealthy, yet 'unarmed' Drones - as it is coming into to land on the Carl Vinson, just out of Norfolk (after coming back from 6 months of tedium on the Persian Gulf). Yep, 5 minutes to impact at a large White House, home to a hated 'liberal', and the Drone is essentially unstoppable, armed or not. -----Original Message----- From: Terry Blanton http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-auto-drone-20120126,0,740306.story New drone has no pilot anywhere, so who's accountable? The Navy is testing an autonomous plane that will land on an aircraft carrier. The prospect of heavily armed aircraft screaming through the skies without direct human control is unnerving to many. <more>
<<attachment: winmail.dat>>
