Unidentified aircraft, turn right heading 040 immediately!
"Roger roger"
A software error, combined with an unfortunate user action, led to a US military robot helicopter - developed from a manned version and capable of carrying a fearsome arsenal of weapons - straying into restricted airspace near Washington DC, according to reports. Fire Scout robot helicopter La la la, I'm not listening Mr …
They have been developing this independent streak for years- one of the pilotless B24's used in Operation Aphrodite in WW2 spent a considerable time circling Ipswich trying to decide where to detonate itself, before diving into the sea in a remarkable self-sacrifice. This latest one was just probing the Washington defences. It'll be back...
So it'd be more clever for it to be carrying on its merry way, while some poor sods in a Hummer try to do better than 10mph cross-country through the bush to follow it? If it stays where it is, you can head over there so that it stops being a radio blackspot.
Or you can put a few ounces of black powder somewhere and blow the wings off, of course, just as a precaution Trouble is that you'd run out of planes pretty damn quickly. It'd also make you unpopular with whoever was underneath, if a drone with a half-dozen armed Hellfires drops on your campfire.
Since this vehicle is up in the air, I'd assume that radio was not obstructed, but merely out of range.
If this is the case, I would think that the craft should report with a low signal condition before a complete loss occurs.
If not, it might even be a viable precaution to deliberately turn down the signal so that it enters no signal mode before being truly out of range. The operator could then boost the signal to give it instructions to come home.
I'm a little surprised this military gadget doesn't have a satellite transponder for this sort of thing.
...when you can use PORTABLE transmission systems. Since the radio equipment (by design) is transportable, one can simply truck over to near where contact was lost and rig your transmission gear to cover the blackspot. Re-establish contact with the stranded craft and lead it on home.
Already, as any passenger using domestic US flights knows, the skies over the U.S. of A. are filled to such an extent that they are nigh on unable to fly any more aircraft. Additionally the Washington, D.C., area is a restricted zone following the incidents in 2001.
To think that the military have added unmanned glorified toys to the mix is unbelievable. All we need is one of these things to bring down a large passenger aircraft; there are already enough incidents involving general aviation (aka private aircraft).