Drones Revolutionize US Warfare

[SpArK]

Drones Revolutionize US Warfare
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Monday, 11 June 2012

They are robots in the sky and some say they are revolutionizing the way the United States wages wars. Drones are playing a growing role in the U.S. military.

It is estimated that there are 10,000 unmanned aerial vehicles in the U.S. military's arsenal, in addition to an undisclosed number operated by the CIA - including one that recently killed Abu Yahya al-Libi, al-Qaida's number two leader.

Pakistan objects to the use of drones over its territory. But U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has given no indication Washington will stop using them against terrorists.

"We made it clear to the Pakistanis that United States of America is going to defend ourselves against those that would attack us, and we have done just that, we have gone after their leadership and we have done it effectively," said Panetta.

Drones are relatively cheap to operate. Their strikes are precise. And they entail no risk to the pilots who operate them from U.S. bases thousands of kilometers away.


At a time of shrinking budgets and growing war fatigue among the American public, the Obama administration has made unmanned aerial vehicles a central component of its new defense strategy.

Michele Flournoy is a former top Pentagon official and an architect of that strategy.

"The whole realm of unmanned systems is going to revolutionize the force over time," said Flournoy. "We are still in the process of understanding what those systems bring in terms of new ways of operating, new ways of working as a military."

By some accounts, that revolution is happening now. UAVs' effectiveness and their small footprint are quickly making them the Obama administration's weapon of choice for U.S. military and intelligence operations.

John Brennan is President Obama's chief counterterrorism adviser:

"It is hard to imagine a tool that can better minimize the risk to civilians than remotely piloted aircraft," Brennan said.

But anti-drone protesters say drones are not risk free and the deaths of bystanders in Pakistan and elsewhere go largely unreported.

Medea Benjamin fears that Americans could become desensitized to war.

"The biggest ethical problem with drones is that it makes killing too easy," said Benjamin.

For U.S. leaders, armed drones have proven their worth and are the way of the future. Activists want a moratorium until laws catch up with the technology in order to keep it in check.

Monday, 11 June 2012

Drones Revolutionize US Warfare, 11 June 2012 Monday 10:33

 

[Awesome]

Nobody's shooting them down, if we did this entire thing would be a failure.

 

[newdelhinsa]

Nobody's shooting them down, if we did this entire thing would be a failure.

You can shoot down their manned jets as well. But if you shoot down their unmanned jets then the purpose of having those by them isn't a failure rather a triumph.

Also they are using it with a doctrine which possibly has a back up or appropriate response in place in case of any attack on them by a nation.

 

[OrionHunter]

Check them out here:

New Combat Drones: Like Nothing The World Has Ever Seen!

Cheers!

 

[bouncing betty]

10,000 + !!! I LOVE IT !!!!

You can shoot down their manned jets as well....

Nah !! I doubt it.

 

[ahfatzia]

Drones are immoral weapons and should be banned.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

UAVs are now being used on US-Mexican border....things will get to the point where USA wont even need traffic police because surveillance UAVs will be monitoring vehicle speeds, actions, etc.

as for drones - i think the Americans have already made it clear that the drone program (which is no longer a clandestine one) is how they will go about fighting terrorism in our region as well as in Arabian Peninsula --as is happening. Drones, as well as the use of "contractors"

it's a lucrative business actually....for those few that profit off of it.


as far as "revolutionizing" war -- it's a unique and fairly fail-safe weapon (except when they do get detected and shot down -- which can be very troubling for them)


does it fight terrorism? well, it whacks some bad guys....but ten others replace them and any unfortunate passer-by who is killed for no crime except being at wrong place @ wrong time -- that passer-by (if he survives) or his/her mourning relatives could become future jihadis


so the whole "revolutionize" thing ought to be re-visited.


(assuming this is all about FIGHTING terrorism and eradicating it)

Nobody's shooting them down, if we did this entire thing would be a failure.

waiting for the orders, Asim!


the orders....

 

[livingdead]

^^^ they are not perfect but are they not better than jets / helicoptor gunships for anti terrorism operation. The colateral damage you talk about will be much higher in other platform I think.

 

[bouncing betty]

Drones are immoral weapons and should be banned.

Baloney !!

 

[Sashan]

Baloney !!

Mate - I would wait to hear what he says.

Drones are immoral weapons and should be banned.

And why is that?

 

[ahfatzia]

Baloney !!

I really don't expect a guy like you to understand.

Mate - I would wait to hear what he says.



And why is that?

Next they'll develop precision nuclear drones, then next......

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

^^^ they are not perfect but are they not better than jets / helicoptor gunships for anti terrorism operation. The colateral damage you talk about will be much higher in other platform I think.

i am a firm believer in what I call "out of the box" thinking vis-a-vis counter insurgency

it requires closer cooperation between the civvies and the khakis -- or rather as much cooperation as possible, given the totally different cultures and thinking between the 2

it requires more than just bombs and belts of ammo....it requires you to have the locals (the aam aadmi) on your side

 

[Deno]

Yes but they are used as weapons to murder Pakistani and Yemeni citizens...

You can have pretty good information about how US uses its drones to kill ''terrorists''...

I hope the Pakistani and Yemeni citizens who lost their lifes rests in peace and I wish patience for those who lost their loved ones...

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

Baloney !!

send some drones to PG County in Maryland.....you have a huge problem with heavily armed latin american gangs like the MS-13

the police have been unable or unwilling to solve this problem; why dont you drone your way out of the US gang wars problem?


hell -- use it on the cartels too


i just hope one of those missiles doesnt accidentally hit your house

 

[Sashan]

I really don't expect a guy like you to understand.




Next they'll develop precision nuclear drones, then next......

I do not see anything immoral in that. This is a technology evolution where the pilot driven planes are replaced by pilotless ones.