X-45 Makes Debut Flight

jonerik writes "The Associated Press (by way of MSNBC) reports the debut flight on Wednesday of Boeing's X-45A, the first unmanned aircraft designed from the start to carry weapons. According to the article, the X-45 - one of two being tested - flew for 14 minutes and will be able to carry 3,000 pounds of guided bombs. If eventually purchased by the Pentagon, expect to see it in service sometime between 2007 and 2010. The plane's relatively cheap cost ($10-15 million per aircraft), ease of maintenance, and lack of an onboard pilot will likely make it a staple of future U.S. war plans."

Comments

Perfect

[Robert Hayden]

Perfect for today's nintendo generation of twitch-reflex script kiddies.

In a related story...

[slackergod]

The Pentagon announced their new "Skynet" project.

X45

[10 Speed]

is the x45 a flying version of the x10 camera?

Re:X45

[Wakko Warner]

Yes. In fact, I believe the article is wrong. This plane is designed not to destroy, but to bring hope to the hopeless.

Large-breasted, scantily clad women are the bomb, and, at about 100 pounds each, this plane will be able to carry 30 of them. The payload will be dropped as a form of humanitarian aid at enemy Star Trek conventions, Linux User Group meetings, Magic: The Gathering marathons, and other places which haven't a hope of seeing the fairer species any other way.

Let's hope this does the trick. (They say mass-sterilization efforts are the next and last resort, but I say it'd be a moot point.)

- A.P.

Now I find myself wondering...

[Robotech_Master]

...where's Isamu Dyson when you need him?

I think it was best said on The Simpsons

[decipher_saint]

"The wars of the future will not be fought on the battlefield or at sea. They will be fought in space, or possibly on top of a very tall mountain. In either case, most of the actual fighting will be done by small robots. And as you go forth today remember always your duty is clear: To build and maintain those robots. Thank you."
-- Military school Commandant's graduation address, "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson"

No cockpit?

[SirKron]

Since there is no cockpit maybe they should paint one on the tail end to confuse our enemies' pilots. It works for fish with "eyes" on their tails.

Re:No cockpit?

[danro]

Yeah, I can see that...

Ground control, we have a have a bogey dooing mach 1 in reverse!

Hmm... don't think that would fool anyone.

pure water

[thanjee]

All we need is one general with a weird obsession about pure water and the unmanned bombers will go out causing mass destruction and risking world war three unless we can guess his recall code.

Then again, if it is unmanned who will be there to manually unstick and release the bomb and ride it down? Maybe this is a good idea for real-life afterall, just not very exciting for a movie end sequence.

The real questions...

[sharkey]

Will they be hooking these planes up to video games for kids, and will Robin Williams be able to save us in time?

Think of the civilian applications...

[Dr. Cody]

We're one step closer to the 'dog and pilot' flight crew:

A pilot in case of an emergency and a dog to bite the pilot if he touches the controls.

Flying X-10s?

[WIAKywbfatw]

Great, so those X-10 webcams featured in those annoying pop-up ads can fly now? Is there no end to the invasion of our privacy?

Re:Slows down reaction times

[Aceticon]

Yep - all them missiles got really confused!!!

Well, if you haven't heard about it...

[Gorimek]

..it is sure to not have happened. Only tin foil crackpots could suspect that NSA would be secretive about such a thing!

Re:Crackers?

[andrewski]

That sounds like terrorist talk to me.

Donald Rumsfeld a Jedi master?

[Ilan Volow]

>The military is always claiming that Force Protection is one of the most important things they do.

I never knew the U.S. military was using The Force. But that would explain their fascination with hokey religions and ancient weapons.

Three paragraphs, the DMCA, and lawyers, ...

[jerryasher]

This is a U.S. Department of Defense Computer System.

This computer system, including all related equipment, networks and network devices (specifically including Internet access), are provided only for authorized U.S. Government use. DoD computer systems may be monitored for all lawful purposes, including to ensure that their use is authorized, for management of the system, to facilitate protection against unauthorized access, and to verify security procedures, survivability and operational security. Monitoring includes active attacks by authorized DoD entities to test or verify the security of this system. During monitoring, information may be examined, recorded, copied and used for authorized purposes. All information, including personal information, placed on or sent over this system may be monitored. Use of this DoD computer system, authorized or unauthorized, constitutes consent to monitoring of this system. Unauthorized use may subject you to criminal prosecution. Evidence of unauthorized use collected during monitoring may be used for administrative, criminal or adverse action. Use of this system constitutes consent to monitoring for these purposes.

Unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, prevent or limit access, or otherwise violate the intended purpose of this web site are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986.

This notice is embedded into X-45 and all UCAV ROMs. All X-45s are distributed with three platoons of lawyers. This and the DMCA should do.

In other news...

[ar1550]

...Three different women named Sarah Connor have been found brutally murdered in their homes. Police have yet to name any suspects.