The Dawn Of Robot Wars

No, I'm not talking about Battle Bots here. I speaking about full on unmanned system vs. unmanned system in actual combat. This new era got off with a real bang when an MQ-9 Reaper dropped a 500-lb laser guided bomb on a remotely controlled Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) in Iraq last week marking a historic first. The Reaper, which began combat patrols in Iraq last month is really proving its mettle to the battlefield commanders over there as it starts to assume the roles previously occupied by manned systems. 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance and Attack Squadron Commander Lt. Col. Micah Morgan, said that they "searched for, found, fixed, targeted and destroyed a [threat] with just one aircraft." The Air Force already has an entire wing of UCAVs, but I'm thinking that's just the start. It won't be long before unmanned systems outnumber manned aircraft and pilots are exiled to air conditioned trailers where they play war half a world away. Countries around the world are following suit with development of their unmanned systems as well. Perhaps it will be the Major League Gamers that help us usher in the robotic apocalypse. Can anyone say Skynet?

[Aviation Week via Gizmodo]

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Shrinks To Help UAV Pilots Cope With Distant War

Four months after a highly publicised study reported UAV pilots face more fatigue, emotional exhaustion, burnout and video-game thumb than traditional combat pilots, the US Air Force has decided to do something about it. As with the previous study, this new move will surely have in-theatre combat jockeys riled up. Top Air Force brass has decided to call in chaplains, psychologists and psychiatrists "to help ease the mental strain on these remote-control warriors," the Associated Press reports. Many UAV combat sorties in Iraq and Afghanistan are actually flown by pilots and senor operators here in the United States via remote satellite link. When this scenario first began, many UAV pilots were happy and commented that, "most of the time, I get to fight the war, and go home and see the wife and kids at night." This was until the demand for their operations exploded and their hours became more and more prolonged with new internal comparisons to "prisoners with life sentences." While this is enough to get traditional pilots up out of their seats with expletives (along with every other Army grunt and Marine who spends numerous 15 month rotations in the sandbox getting shot at) some higher ups caution that the back and forth between war and peace is straining these distant drone drivers. "It is quite different, going from potentially shooting a missile, then going to your kid's soccer game," sighs Lt. Col. Michael Lenahan. This is why the 163d Reconnaissance Wing out of March ARB in California is looking to help their crews with whatever emotional or psychological issues that may come up. If it works, then its back to bombing insurgents by day and sleeping in their bed with their wives by night.

[Boston Globe via Danger Room]

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