An unmanned combat air vehicle or combat drone or simply "drone" is an unmanned aerial vehicle that is armed and has no onboard pilot. Currently operational drones are under real-time human control of unknown precision.
Drones change the nature of modern aerial combat. Obviously, controllers of drones are in no immediate danger, unlike jet pilots. As a highly advanced use of robots in war, drones also prompt fundamental questions about the relationship of warriors to war, and soldiers to their weapons.
In terms of military logistics, much of the equipment necessary for a human pilot (such as the cockpit, ejection seat, flight controls, and environmental controls for pressure & oxygen) can be omitted from an unmanned vehicle, resulting in a decrease in weight. This may allow greater payloads, range and maneuverability. However the distance between the pilot and the aircraft will naturally result in slower response time or latency.
The use of drones in war has far-reaching consequences for wars in the 21st Century, including for AI development, the ethics of war (see below), and for military software design. The degree of a drone's autonomy in the field of battle also has severe legal ramifications, i.e., a "the drone did it, not me" argument.
Read more about Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle: History, Proliferation, Laws of War & Ethics, Political Effects, Current Models
Famous quotes containing the words combat, air and/or vehicle:
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—H.L. (Henry Lewis)
“I recently learned something quite interesting about video games. Many young people have developed incredible hand, eye, and brain coordination in playing these games. The air force believes these kids will be our outstanding pilots should they fly our jets.”
—Ronald Reagan (b. 1911)
“If you would learn to write, ‘t is in the street you must learn it. Both for the vehicle and for the aims of fine arts you must frequent the public square. The people, and not the college, is the writer’s home.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)