Last month, the British Ministry of Defense warned that the prolific use of drones in battle will lead toward an “incremental and involuntary journey towards a Terminator-like reality.” Today, we learn that the Pentagon plans on doubling its robotic fleet of pilotless aircraft over the next three decades, essentially guaranteeing the fall of man and rise of the Resistance. Fun times.
The U.S. Air Force is looking to develop a mini-drone that’s capable of sneaking up on a potential target and spraying it with an invisible powder so it can be tracked down at will, but not just for the sake of killing people. According to the Danger Room, the military claims this could also come in handy for “identifying friendly forces” and “tracking wildlife.” Ha, sure.
Two F-15s were scrambled earlier today after a small airplane mistakenly violated restricted airspace temporarily established during Obama’s visit to Seattle and sonic booms were heard throughout the area.
Although they do make for great souvenirs the TSA is advising troops that grenades and other incendiary devices, live or inert, may not be brought aboard commercial flights. That includes: “blasting caps, dynamite, fireworks, flares, hand grenades and explosives, either real or replicated.” |NYC Aviation|
A recently instituted ban that prevents all Chinese servicemen from creating blogs or posting “Craigslist-like” ads online is forcing military officers to figure out how to get their soldiers laid.
The American Legion, one of the country’s oldest veterans organizations and places for old men to sit around and drink, weighed in on the increasing likelihood that the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy would be repealed. They sent an open letter to President Obama, urging him to reconsider. Read more »
The Russians truly are the masters of deception and have enacted a brilliant strategy to build up their armed forced without shelling out billions of dollars: inflatable decoys. Weighing only a couple of hundred pounds each, the realistic looking inexpensive jets can be easily moved and according to the Daily Mail, even “imitate the heat signature of combat units, fooling enemy infra-red detectors.” |Daily Mail|
According to a military official, the new generation of drones will offer all sorts of surveillance amenities that include the “option to arrest the individual, talk to the individuals or . . . wait till those people have gone down a lonely stretch of road and take them out with a Hellfire missile.” |LAT|
The 4,000-year-old city of Babylon, home to one of the seven original wonders of the world, the eponymous hanging gardens, wasn’t in great shape when U.S. Forces arrived, but they didn’t help things either. A new UNESCO reports says the military bulldozed ancient hilltops for parking lots, destroyed cuneiform covered bricks and pottery and stuffed sandbags with archaeological fragments during their ‘grave encroachment on this internationally known archeological site.” |Washington Post|
While military brass are likely celebrating the first enemy kill delivered by the Army’s pilot-less Warrior-Alpha drone, the rest of us cybernetic revolt worrying civilians should probably be shuddering in fear. When this thing becomes self-aware, it won’t just be our enemies that are fucked! |Gizmodo|
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