I told him that the UAS was, without a doubt the most dangerous weapon system ever developed. When he asked why I referred to “On War” and asked about he quote that war is a political act. When he agreed, I asked him what restraints on the political decision to wage war did UAS remove.
After a moment of silence I then asked how fast would a politician start a war if he didn't have to worry about friendly force KIA, WIA, MIA.
When his paper was “published” at Maxwell AFB he lead with my quote.
“Given that war is a political act, then UAS are the most dangerous weapon system ever developed because they will remove the last remaining restraint on a politician’s tendency to wage unnecessary wars”.
Today's headlines seem to have validated that statement.
Enough said.
Stand-off weapons have been the goal of warriors for thousands of years. With stand-off you have the ability to strike the enemy and he can't strike back. I imagine you agree, as when we go to war we don't want a fair fight. We want to win.
Throwing rocks instead of using fists, using a crossbow instead of throwing rocks, shooting rifles instead of a bow and arrow, dropping bombs from a manned fighter above 15,000’ rather than flying low where rifle-fire can hit you, etc. . .these are all examples of stand-off.
All who agree with the premise that you don't bring a knife to a gun-fight agree in principle with the use of stand—off, and UAV’s provide stand-off, nothing more, nothing less.
Of course, if we don't want stand off, we should insist upon a fair fight, you know, throw our men into close-combat evenly matched with the same weapons of the enemy. That way stand-off does not give us an edge.
UAV’s are not killer drones, they are manned and flown by men, thinking men of honor (US military men). UAVs are not some sort of uncontrolled robot shark roaming the skies looking to kill. They are part of an arsenal of weapons we can use to meet evolving threats.
Development of UAV’s should not be feared because some politician, someplace, somewhere, sometime, might abuse them.
Let us not fear technology and the advancement of weapons. Let us control its development and use so that we are prepared when the enemy fields that capability a) we can combat it, and b) we don't put our own men at risk.