Air Combat by Remote Control

Wall Street Journal ^ | 12 May 2008 | By BRIAN M. CARNEY

[Wonder Warthog]

"I specify some Unix variant, or even Apple. "

I thought that, these days, those were pretty much the same thing.

[potlatch]

I love this, a beautiful graphic!!

[devolve]

.

Thanks potlatch -

I could not resist it with this thread title!

[wbill]

why is it necessary to broadcast the exact base

Assumes that a)The Reporter was given the correct information. and b)The reporter reported it right.

Two big assumptions, to be sure.

[GATOR NAVY]

Correct me if I’m wrong but I think Joe means this technology used against us by our government.

[DoughtyOne]

I guess that’s fair. I just don’t like the idea of an enemy knowing where to go looking if they want to try to compromise an operation. The next thing you know they’ll name one of the men in this operation in a story about what an interesting job he has.

[potlatch]

Perfect spot for it!

[CholeraJoe]

The next thing you know they’ll name one of the men in this operation in a story about what an interesting job he has.

You forgot your /sarc tag since the article did just that.

[DoughtyOne]

That figures. I flit around to som many subjects here, that I sometimes miss parts of the articles.

Thanks for pointing that out. I do find that disconcerting.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks for that Devolve. I don’t think folks will ever acuse me of having too much time on my hands after this.

That’s quite clever.

[CholeraJoe]

Here's an except from the open source fact sheet on Creech Air Force Base:

On June 20, 2005, Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field officially changed its name to Creech Air Force Base in honor of Gen. Wilbur L. "Bill" Creech. As the commander of Tactical Air Command from 1978 to 1984, General Creech shaped the Air Force of today with a call for new weapons and tactics. He revolutionized the Air Force by espousing a philosophy of decentralized authority and responsibility. He was also known as the "father of the Thunderbirds," the Air Force's premiere air demonstration squadron.

I had the honor of shaking Gen Creech's hand while I was a young Captain.

[hiredhand]

(Chuckle) :-)

Good point.

[devolve]

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Yup

It’s amazing how much some .gifs can be used

I originally used it in my James Bond graphics and webpages!

[PapaBear3625]

The drones tend to work best in a situation of high-tech vs. low tech combat. I'm sure some advanced missiles could take down a squadron of drones if used against us.

Predators are slow, propeller-driven planes. They cannot survive where we do not have complete control of the air. They would be toast against even a MiG-21.

[L,TOWM]

My 12 yo son could’nt pay them more $5/week for this job, no matter how much fun he thought it was!

On a serious note, though, Ender’s Game, anyone?

[devolve]

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I’d like to see those little birds used more in Iraq and Afghanistan

I’ve seen some mini recon birds that are the size of a pieplate, hand-launched, and impossible to bring down in the field

[DoughtyOne]

Very nice CholeraJoe. Thanks for the mention.

Sounds like quite a forward thinking guy.

[DoughtyOne]

Sounds quite interesting. I like stuff like that.

[potlatch]

I remember it well!!

[potlatch]

I guess the ‘drones’, supposedly being used along the border, are a fair size.