From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Mon Dec 31 2001 - 08:30:18 MST
U.S. military tests new robot attack plane
http://www.nandotimes.com/healthscience/story/206710p-1995152c.html
Initial taxi tests for the first robot plane designed specifically to carry
weapons into combat have been completed and a maiden flight is planned for
early 2002.
Other unpiloted aerial vehicles, or UAVs, have been modified to carry and fire
weapons, most recently in Afghanistan, but the Boeing X-45A is the first such
drone being designed to do so from the start.
The recent taxi tests showed the sleek, blue-and-white UCAV - the C stands for
"combat" - can operate both when controlled remotely and while using a series
of preprogrammed directions. More tests will be conducted at Edwards in 2002.
The Y-shaped, tailless plane is 27 feet long and sports a 34-foot wingspan. It
weighs about 8,000 pounds and can carry 3,000 pounds of weapons.
--- --- --- --- ---
Useless hypotheses, etc.:
consciousness, phlogiston, philosophy, vitalism, mind, free will, qualia,
analog computing, cultural relativism, GAC, Cyc, Eliza, cryonics, individual
uniqueness, ego, human values, scientific relinquishment, malevolent AI,
non-sensory experience, SETI
We move into a better future in proportion as science displaces superstition.
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