Black Hawk drone: Unmanned chopper passes critical Pentagon test

Black Hawk drone: Unmanned chopper passes critical Pentagon test - Washington Times

The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk has been a staple of U.S. military operations going back more than 30 years, but the Pentagon is now closer than ever to ditching one of the iconic chopper’s most important components: the pilot. Aircraft maker Sikorsky announced plans last year to convert a retired Black Hawk helicopter into an “optionally piloted” aircraft, and Army officials said on Thursday that a recent test of the prototype proved to be a success.

If we were fighting wars that actually mattered or were life-and-death for the world (like WWII) I might support this, but it strikes me as little more than an addition to an increasingly automated war machine whose agenda it is to perpetuate forever wars.

Automated wars are going to be a big problem in the future. If no one is piloting the vehicles then destroying them is never going to be an incentive for tyrants to stop waging war. As various intelligence leaks have shown, putting such a distance between the person and the killing machine greatly increases apathy toward the victim.

There should be humanity even in war. This just turns it into some kind of glorified video game.

Northern Light said:

war machine whose agenda it is to perpetuate forever wars.

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CT section is down the hall.

That is great news. USA loses far too many to military helicopter crashes.

spangledbanner said:

That is great news. USA loses far too many to military helicopter crashes.

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Now a pilot-less helicopter will carry troops. Feel better?

From the article:

“The autonomous Black Hawk helicopter provides the commander with the flexibility to determine crewed or un-crewed operations,

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Μολὼν λαβέ;1065196290 said:

Now a pilot-less helicopter will carry troops. Feel better?

From the article:

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We need pilot-less C-130/141s. I tell you what, those guys never got near Top Gun school.

Μολὼν λαβέ;1065196290 said:

Now a pilot-less helicopter will carry troops. Feel better?

From the article:

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Im not sure if I trust driverless cars. So not really. Is this to save money? Im not sure that I get it.

Kaman did that with its K-Max some years ago.

Anomalism said:

Black Hawk drone: Unmanned chopper passes critical Pentagon test - Washington Times

The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk has been a staple of U.S. military operations going back more than 30 years, but the Pentagon is now closer than ever to ditching one of the iconic chopper’s most important components: the pilot. Aircraft maker Sikorsky announced plans last year to convert a retired Black Hawk helicopter into an “optionally piloted” aircraft, and Army officials said on Thursday that a recent test of the prototype proved to be a success.

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This article may lead one to believe that they are planning to get rid of pilots. No true in the slightest.