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Future UAV will need less control
The pilotless aircraft, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, will require less controls by humans in future than the existing one like predator, a report has said.
The pilotless aircraft, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, will require less controls by humans in
future than the existing one like predator, a report has said.
The UAVs demand even less controls by humans in future than the predator which proved so successful in Afghanistan, armed with its hellfire missile and constant reporting to remote controllers of the situation on the ground, a report in The Wall Street Journal said. The predator, with a speed of 115 miles per hour, requires two people to direct - a pilot and a navigator sitting side by side hundreds of miles away viewing what the UAV's cameras show.
Maneouvering the craft requires a keyboard, flanked by a throttle button on the left and a joystick on the right. Two brake pedals are under the table.
Currently there are 71 American UAV pilots. Another eight are expected to join them next month. That number is expected to grow greatly in years to come as more of these machines are deployed, said the report. The predator's successor, the Global Hawk, which made its battlefield debut in Afghanistan, is programmed for its flying mission before it even takes off, the report said.
All that a pilot has to do is flip a power switch, tap a few strokes in a computer keyboard and click the on-screen execute box. Unless there is a problem or a change of mission, the aircraft does the rest.
Bureau Report
The UAVs demand even less controls by humans in future than the predator which proved so successful in Afghanistan, armed with its hellfire missile and constant reporting to remote controllers of the situation on the ground, a report in The Wall Street Journal said. The predator, with a speed of 115 miles per hour, requires two people to direct - a pilot and a navigator sitting side by side hundreds of miles away viewing what the UAV's cameras show.
Maneouvering the craft requires a keyboard, flanked by a throttle button on the left and a joystick on the right. Two brake pedals are under the table.
Currently there are 71 American UAV pilots. Another eight are expected to join them next month. That number is expected to grow greatly in years to come as more of these machines are deployed, said the report. The predator's successor, the Global Hawk, which made its battlefield debut in Afghanistan, is programmed for its flying mission before it even takes off, the report said.
All that a pilot has to do is flip a power switch, tap a few strokes in a computer keyboard and click the on-screen execute box. Unless there is a problem or a change of mission, the aircraft does the rest.
Bureau Report