Yossarian
Forum Resistance Leader
The future of aviation has got military planners going nuts over unmanned flight. I mean, it's cheaper, and it is easy to take care of. With having to feed, cloth, and train a pilot. Also, if a UAV gets shot down, you don't have to write a family, and tell them why their son or daughter, was lost...
But, then you have UCAVs, heartless, and full of potential. However there is one problem with the concept of using such vehicles in combat. Once you label them combatant. Then really? Who is responsible for when they screw up? You can hold a person responsible by law in a courtroom when they deliberately screw up in the military. But, what about a preprogrammed machine?
When war started back in Man's early days, it was a the most serious act of violence used to attack a enemy. Every human has the will to live, and if you take that away by killing them, then you have put the most serious act known to man on them. Hence, when this is done on a large scale you get war. Why do some Nations do everything the can to stay out of war? Because sometimes, you don't want to go broke , or you don't want to die.
But, when you have a Unmanned machine flying against you, you may sometimes wonder, on what would happen in a complex scenario, where a preprogrammed fighter or bomber, does what it is designed to do. But, remember unlike people, machines do not know borders, or politics, or treaties. Sure you can upload data, but you will have to do this on a day to day schedule in a hotly contested wars zone, in a small country congested with borders.
Read this scenario bellow and you will see what I mean:
A UCAV, fueled, preprogrammed is sent out on a combat air patrol over the AO of recent large scale military operation. The crew that programmed it, did it with the instructions given to them by their COs, and they from the Operational commander, who got there general instruction from their bosses, all the way up to the Politicians, responsible for their nation's defense.
Now there is small number of fighter aircraft in the vicinity, so these aircraft are now flying back to back patrol sorties for hours now. They have been preprogrammed for this phase of the mission 48 hours ago in a hanger in your home nation, before entering the AO. Everything has been checked, the tech crew checks briskly, this new model UCAV, is capable of refueling while still spooled up, and loaded. This feature shows it's usefulness now.
Anyway the plane has been programmed to shoot down any aircraft flying into a no fly zone it has be instructed to enforce. So, stealthy it does this, with advanced computer tracking and locating systems it monitors its proximity towards all the borders of the small nation. One of which, a regional power, has the ability to gain weapons of mass destruction. And is not on a good political basis with your nation.
All of a sudden, a mishap occurs. The border tracking system was not updated, and the borders are now around 2 kilometers off from where their actual geographic location. And a 2 contacts on a tracked bearing appears on the UCAVs pulse data radar. They are military style helicopters. The UCAV technicians, in a hanger on a nearby allied air base monitor this on computer screens and begin gathering and relaying information, none of them aware that the border recognition system is off by around 2 kilometers.
Now here is the kicker, the 2 contacts are cleared by the Executive officer in charge of this specific UCAV flight. They are cleared weapons hot, on the two contacts, but, there are close to the border, no IFF, and are identified as aircraft belonging to the nation that is not politically friendly to your own. The computers then give off warning, that the update version installed on the UCAV is not current, it is to late the flight computers onboard the aircraft have fired two A 120Cs, and they are inbound towards the target. the aircraft are splashed, and the UCAVs have crossed the boarder....
22 hours later a session at the UN is held, tying to find out who to point the finger at in your nation's chain of command, the technicians , who were following orders, briskly checked the software while sending it out on orders? The XO, for seeing nothing wrong, and cleared another sortie, that nothing has gone wrong so far since the patrol operations began. Or do you possible blame other Air Force Crews back in you home nation for not checking the software, in which the routine walk down of the aircraft was shortened due to the urgency of the military situation in the AO.
Or do you blame the software company who installed the software inside the aircraft? Not putting in more fail safes. And more warning software???
Just who is at fault here?
It's things like this I do not know how they would go over. I do know how things like this could be recognized as a screw up, or mislabeled a international incident. Sometimes regions are just itching for a fight, and all they want is a reason. But, when a pilot screws up like this, he or she is usually the first blamed. But, what if a unmanned aircraft screws up, then who gets the blame??????
But, then you have UCAVs, heartless, and full of potential. However there is one problem with the concept of using such vehicles in combat. Once you label them combatant. Then really? Who is responsible for when they screw up? You can hold a person responsible by law in a courtroom when they deliberately screw up in the military. But, what about a preprogrammed machine?
When war started back in Man's early days, it was a the most serious act of violence used to attack a enemy. Every human has the will to live, and if you take that away by killing them, then you have put the most serious act known to man on them. Hence, when this is done on a large scale you get war. Why do some Nations do everything the can to stay out of war? Because sometimes, you don't want to go broke , or you don't want to die.
But, when you have a Unmanned machine flying against you, you may sometimes wonder, on what would happen in a complex scenario, where a preprogrammed fighter or bomber, does what it is designed to do. But, remember unlike people, machines do not know borders, or politics, or treaties. Sure you can upload data, but you will have to do this on a day to day schedule in a hotly contested wars zone, in a small country congested with borders.
Read this scenario bellow and you will see what I mean:
A UCAV, fueled, preprogrammed is sent out on a combat air patrol over the AO of recent large scale military operation. The crew that programmed it, did it with the instructions given to them by their COs, and they from the Operational commander, who got there general instruction from their bosses, all the way up to the Politicians, responsible for their nation's defense.
Now there is small number of fighter aircraft in the vicinity, so these aircraft are now flying back to back patrol sorties for hours now. They have been preprogrammed for this phase of the mission 48 hours ago in a hanger in your home nation, before entering the AO. Everything has been checked, the tech crew checks briskly, this new model UCAV, is capable of refueling while still spooled up, and loaded. This feature shows it's usefulness now.
Anyway the plane has been programmed to shoot down any aircraft flying into a no fly zone it has be instructed to enforce. So, stealthy it does this, with advanced computer tracking and locating systems it monitors its proximity towards all the borders of the small nation. One of which, a regional power, has the ability to gain weapons of mass destruction. And is not on a good political basis with your nation.
All of a sudden, a mishap occurs. The border tracking system was not updated, and the borders are now around 2 kilometers off from where their actual geographic location. And a 2 contacts on a tracked bearing appears on the UCAVs pulse data radar. They are military style helicopters. The UCAV technicians, in a hanger on a nearby allied air base monitor this on computer screens and begin gathering and relaying information, none of them aware that the border recognition system is off by around 2 kilometers.
Now here is the kicker, the 2 contacts are cleared by the Executive officer in charge of this specific UCAV flight. They are cleared weapons hot, on the two contacts, but, there are close to the border, no IFF, and are identified as aircraft belonging to the nation that is not politically friendly to your own. The computers then give off warning, that the update version installed on the UCAV is not current, it is to late the flight computers onboard the aircraft have fired two A 120Cs, and they are inbound towards the target. the aircraft are splashed, and the UCAVs have crossed the boarder....
22 hours later a session at the UN is held, tying to find out who to point the finger at in your nation's chain of command, the technicians , who were following orders, briskly checked the software while sending it out on orders? The XO, for seeing nothing wrong, and cleared another sortie, that nothing has gone wrong so far since the patrol operations began. Or do you possible blame other Air Force Crews back in you home nation for not checking the software, in which the routine walk down of the aircraft was shortened due to the urgency of the military situation in the AO.
Or do you blame the software company who installed the software inside the aircraft? Not putting in more fail safes. And more warning software???
Just who is at fault here?
It's things like this I do not know how they would go over. I do know how things like this could be recognized as a screw up, or mislabeled a international incident. Sometimes regions are just itching for a fight, and all they want is a reason. But, when a pilot screws up like this, he or she is usually the first blamed. But, what if a unmanned aircraft screws up, then who gets the blame??????
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