Okay....so I’ve read the responses so far.
What’s the general opinion? I mean, are these things good or bad?
As far as I’m concerned...if they are used to kill terrorists or people trying to kill our troops...rock on, dude!
On the other hand...do you think these will be used against US, here in the United States? To what purpose?
Educate me, please!
These are terrific for fighting insurgents, guerrillas and terrorists. That’s great, they give us a huge “overmatch” edge in our war on islamic terror.
But if our own govt ever turns tyrant, forcing socialism, gun control etc on a largely unwilling nation, then these drones could be a fearsome tool against freedom.
For example, if and when “unauthorized meetings of groups of ten or more unrelated persons” would be forbidden, these killer drones would be just the ticket to keep an iron fist hovering above any potential meetings of patriots.
Not only in the USA, of course. In Russia, China etc they would help contain or stamp out “anti-government forces.”
Plus, they are “priced right” for tin pot dictators like Chavez, etc.
They're good, on balance. You can do many of the same missions as manned aircraft for a lot less money, and with much less risk. And you can also do more dangerous missions, again because there is much less risk.
The missions can also be much longer, and more frequent, because no "fatigue" factor -- with the UAVs you can just turn the stick over to the next shift.
There are downsides, of course -- the biggest being the need to maintain comm with the vehicle; and the rather natural temptation avoid risk by assigning UAVs to missions that (for now) are better suited to manned aircraft.