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Britain's New Stealth Bomber Is Unmanned And Fully Autonomous
TBI ^ | 1-13-2013 | Robert Johnson

Posted on 01/13/2013 12:21:08 PM PST by blam

Britain's New Stealth Bomber Is Unmanned And Fully Autonomous

Robert Johnson
Jan. 13, 2013, 4:38 AM

Britain's New Stealth Bomber Is Unmanned And Fully Autonomous

BAE Taranis

Britain's Air Force has been using Tornado jets as bombers for decades and is already building a fleet of new Typhoons, but BAE hopes to supplement those forces with a powerful new drone.

The Taranis, named for the Celtic god of thunder will fly faster than the speed of sound and beyond the eye of enemy radar with its single-wing stealth design, and UK officials hope to see it replace piloted planes and current unmanned drones alike.

It's a tall order, but the Taranis already has some nifty technology built into it. In the event the Taranis is spotted and efforts to bring the drone down begun, it can self-evade without input from a controller.

It can also independently identify targets and would only check back with a human controller before initiating an attack. At about $200 million the Taranis prototype isn't cheap, but the RAF believes it's a good investment.

The Telegraph:

Nigel Whitehead, group managing director of programmes at BAE Systems, which has been developing Taranis, said the new drone could change the way aircraft are used by the MoD in the future, which currently uses manned planes for combat missions.

Remote controlled drones such as Reaper are also used by the Ministry of Defence and US military to attack targets ... the Taranis is expected to provide a prototype of a new kind of bomber that will replace piloted planes and the current drones.

Replacing full-sized manned bombers with more than three decades of battle-tested experience is no small feat, and the Taranis, at least this version, isn't terribly large.

(snip)

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: airplane; britain; military; stealth
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1 posted on 01/13/2013 12:21:12 PM PST by blam
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To: blam

Can skynet be far behind?


2 posted on 01/13/2013 12:24:35 PM PST by Politically Correct (A member of the rabble in good standing)
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To: blam

The once mighty Royal Navy consists of about 25 destroyers and smaller vessels. Their money s going to house and feed Muslims. What makes you think they’ll actually field any of these?


3 posted on 01/13/2013 12:24:47 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet (I'll raise $2million for Sarah Palin's presidential run. What'll you do?)
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To: blam

Looks American.


4 posted on 01/13/2013 12:26:05 PM PST by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both)
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To: blam

I guess Black Ops 2 is becoming a little bit more real than I thought


5 posted on 01/13/2013 12:26:21 PM PST by Tyrannis (Long Live The Republic)
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To: Tyrannis
next on the scene will be antigrav ~ and we'll just keep these puppies up in space wandering about until they're needed.

We'll also be able to eliminate the federal highway gasoline tax ~ and some other stuff.

6 posted on 01/13/2013 12:34:02 PM PST by muawiyah
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To: Jet Jaguar

Ping.


7 posted on 01/13/2013 12:34:33 PM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: blam

8 posted on 01/13/2013 12:36:46 PM PST by Morris70
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To: Politically Correct

“Can skynet be far behind?”

It’s already here and based in the UK!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skynet_(satellite)

Skynet-5D: Military satellite’s classified tech
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20774276
18 December 2012 Last updated at 21:02 ET Help
A powerful new telecommunications satellite is being launched on Wednesday for the British military.

The Skynet-5D spacecraft is the final piece in a multi-billion-pound system that enables UK forces to stay connected wherever they are deployed in the world.

Because it is a military system, Skynet has been designed to evade enemy jamming and eavesdropping, and as such contains a number of classified technologies.

BBC science correspondent Jonathan Amos was granted special access to the spacecraft before its launch.
http://www.astrium.eads.net/en/news2/skynet-5d-launched-by-ariane-5.html


9 posted on 01/13/2013 12:44:10 PM PST by Jack Hydrazine (It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Shocking, I know, but I believe the UK now has about 6 destroyers...?


10 posted on 01/13/2013 1:05:07 PM PST by gaijin
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To: blam

Fundamental question here. Stealth - low signature. Drone - RF link back to a controller. Isn’t that a basic conflict?


11 posted on 01/13/2013 1:27:07 PM PST by ThunderSleeps (Stop obama now! Stop the hussein - insane agenda!)
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To: ThunderSleeps

It can be autonomous.

Yeah if it’s transmitting you can target that.


12 posted on 01/13/2013 1:42:02 PM PST by cruise_missile
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To: ThunderSleeps
Probably digital and hops frequencies. Early comm encryption equipment in the U.S. Military (back in early 90's) did the frequency hopping thing. I imagine it is hella fast these days (i.e., you won't get a steady signature on the target).
The Chinese have figured out how to use cell towers and monitor the disruptions in communications between towers to figure out a targets heading.
13 posted on 01/13/2013 1:45:13 PM PST by Michael Barnes (Obamaa+ Downgrade)
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To: blam

New desktop back ground pic.

Thanks.


14 posted on 01/13/2013 1:48:42 PM PST by moovova
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To: ThunderSleeps

probably operates on automatic logic circuits eliminating the need for a direct link for much of its mission. This is a bomber, it just has to fly to a set of way points, drop its payload on a final GPS coordinate, and then return from whence it came via a second set of way points or the same way points. Not a lot of “thought processes” would be required. A fighter plane would have to do a lot more “thinking”.


15 posted on 01/13/2013 2:05:08 PM PST by RC one (.From My Cold Dead Hands.)
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To: blam

I think it’s kinda cool.
Don’t know if they’ll eventually develop it or not, but it is cool.


16 posted on 01/13/2013 2:51:12 PM PST by Dartman
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To: blam

While these very high tech birds are impressive and important in their own right, I suspect that the future of air war will be on the other side of the equation of quality vs. quantity.

Imagine a really cheap UAV, that, along with its engine, fuel tank, simple wire guidance from a simple shielded computer, and 1000lb bomb, is about as expensive as an economy car, say $30,000 each, mass produced.

For the cost of a single B-2 Stealth Bomber, about $750m, you could build 30,000 of these simple drones.

Who could shoot down an air armada of 300 aircraft, much less 3,000? 30,000?

And if you equipped just a few dozen with reasonably good air to air missiles, you could likely get air superiority as well.

The use of the things is simple: Just fill their tank, insert a modular computer brain into them, arm their weapons system, and launch.


17 posted on 01/13/2013 2:57:39 PM PST by yefragetuwrabrumuy (Best WoT news at rantburg.com)
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

“fully autonomous”??

fully?

You mean it decides when and who to attack all by itself? It could just decide one night to go and bomb Scotland, just ‘cuz?


18 posted on 01/13/2013 2:59:22 PM PST by GeronL (http://asspos.blogspot.com)
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To: blam

Actually if you slide a Spitfire under it, and tip the UAV`s wing, the gyros will go haywire and it will crash like a V1.


19 posted on 01/13/2013 3:03:54 PM PST by bunkerhill7 ( yup!)
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To: moovova
BAE-Taranis-UCAV-1920x1080p.jpg
20 posted on 01/13/2013 3:04:14 PM PST by Jeff Chandler (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpAOwJvTOio)
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