Posts by Samuel Lord

Slow burn...

...will finish just in time for Win ME-TWO sp-1 to hit the shelves.

Refitting old planes as robots

Paddy:

"if they do need a UCAV, why not design a controlling system that can fly an existing platform? reusability, anybody?"

That's been going on for decades for obsolete-aircraft-target drones, like you see in all those shoot-em-up SAM videos. Really, pilots were scarce!

But autonomous versions of current planes are flying and more proposed: an unpiloted-but-occupied F-18 is used to test the X-47's landing software today:

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2007/11/26/219820/northrop-grumman-begins-testing-x-47b-ucas-d-software.html

and a G550 UCAV is being offered for the U.S.N.'s BAMS program: Seehttp://www.spyflight.co.uk/IVsp.htm

look up RQ-37.