Unidentified aircraft, turn right heading 040 immediately!
"Roger roger"
ROBOT KILL-CHOPPER GOES ROGUE above Washington DC!
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 Fleshy …
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Heading 404 page not found surely.
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Software error?
Or Skynet quietly testing it's airial capabilities?
Hmmm
Shame it wasn't kitted out with Cyberdyne Systems hardware, it would've flown with a "perfect operational record"....for a while at least!
Software error
Yeah, right. They won't tell us the REAL truth - that their loss of control of the chopper was actually Skynet running a quick test to see if it could usurp control of our drones. And it seems Skynet's test was a complete success.
Procurement policies
Would this be one of those "every part made by the lowest bidder" thingies? (See Alan Shepard quote about what he thought while waiting for lift-off.)
Procurement Policy
More likely that the control system uses jesus phone components.
Take out terrorists across the globe, there's an app for that
Wouldn't have worked
You forget that She overrode String and locked everyone out, didn't mater that he was at the controls. She had her own plans.
ummm
Why is the RotM tag missing on this article? Has El Reg already been taken over?
obvious icon is obvious
tis traditional behaviour
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...
la,la,la, I'm not listening Mr Fleshy...
Not a pretty sight - egg fried rice...
How does it go...
7-5 caught alive
7-6 in a fix
7-7 going to heaven
Maybe it was a sound-check for Wargames III
Well with all the folks having already scored the Skynet jokes, I thought I'd chime in with another Celebrity AI joke. There it is.
Sure, I need to work on my form. At least this joke isn't as bad as Wargames II though.
Design flaw...
"Robot planes and choppers lacking instructions from their human masters will normally circle where they are when comms go down."
So... if the aircraft flies into a radio blackspot, it just *stays* there? That's clever....
Not a design flaw...
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.
It's hard to have a blackspot...
...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.
Re: Not a design flaw...
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.
very clever
means you find it on the ground (finite fuel supply) if you don't find it in the air.
Collecting or delivering?
A better question would be:
was it going to collect a TOK from DC or drop one off?
Quick, get the skeletal scanners out....
Squawk
Budgie - now there was a band. Spookily, the cover of their album "Squawk" featured an SR71 spyplane with a bird's skull grafted onto the front...
US skies over-crowded with piloted aircraft; we don't need remote controls!
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).
Caption on the photo...
Coffee - meet keyboard.
Ouch, that also made me snort bits of apple out my nose.
Send up a second chopper
That one can talk to the first one and get it to come back. Or get won over by it's arguments and join the first.
All joking aside.....
You wouldn't want to awake the interest of the Hacker community or you will have 16 year old boys playing real war games.
no antennae problems
Apparently the guy on the ground was just holding the controller in his left hand, but it's a problem that affects every robot helicopter killing machine according to the manufacturer.
They didnt loose control at all
its just the software reporting that it did
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