A robot cannot harm a person or, by its inaction, allow harm to be done to a person.
- A. Azimov, Three Laws of Robotics
Isaac Asimov was wrong. Very soon the electronic "eye" will take aim at the person, and the microcircuit will dispassionately order: "Fire to kill!"
The robot is stronger than the pilot of flesh and blood. Ten, twenty, thirty hours of continuous flight - he demonstrates constant vigor and is ready to continue the mission. Even when the overload reaches the terrible 10 "same", filling the body with lead pain, the digital devil will maintain clarity of consciousness, continuing to calmly calculate the course and follow the enemy.
The digital brain does not need training and regular training to maintain skill. Mathematical models and algorithms of behavior in the air are forever loaded into the memory of the machine. Having stood for a decade in the hangar, the robot will return to the sky at any moment, taking the steering wheel in its strong and skillful "hands".
Their hour has not yet struck. In the US military (the leader in this field of technology), drones make up a third of the fleet of all aircraft in service. At the same time, only 1% of UAVs are capable of using weapons.
Alas, even this is more than enough to sow terror in those territories that have been given over to hunting grounds for these ruthless steel birds.
5th place - General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper
Reconnaissance and strike UAV with max. takeoff weight of about 5 tons.
Flight duration: 24 hours.
Speed: up to 400 km / h.
Ceiling: 13,000 meters.
Engine: turboprop, 900 hp
Full fuel capacity: 1300 kg.
Armament: Up to four Hellfire missiles and two 500-pound JDAM guided bombs.
Onboard avionics: AN / APY-8 radar with mapping mode (under the nose cone), MTS-B electronic-optical sighting station (in a spherical module) for work in the visible and infrared ranges, with a built-in target designator for illuminating targets for ammunition with semi-active laser guidance.
Cost: $ 16.9 million
To date, 163 UAVs "Reaper" have been built.
Most notorious case of military use: in April 2010 in Afghanistan, an attack by an MQ-9 Reaper UAV killed the third person in the leadership of al-Qaeda, Mustafa Abu Yazid, known as Sheikh al-Masri.
4th place - Interstate TDR-1
Unmanned torpedo bomber.
Max. takeoff weight: 2, 7 tons.
Engines: 2 x 220 HP
Cruising speed: 225 km / h, Flight range: 680 km, Combat load: 2000 lb. (907 kg).
Built: 162 units
“I remember the excitement that gripped me when the screen charged and covered with numerous dots - it seemed to me that the telecontrol system had malfunctioned. In a moment, I realized it was anti-aircraft guns! After adjusting the flight of the drone, I pointed it directly into the middle of the ship. At the last second, the deck flashed before my eyes - so close that I could see the details. Suddenly the screen turned into a gray static background … Obviously, the explosion killed everyone on board."
- The first combat sortie on September 27, 1944
"Project Option" provided for the creation of unmanned torpedo bombers to destroy the Japanese fleet. In April 1942, the first test of the system took place - a "drone", remotely controlled from an aircraft flying 50 km away, launched an attack on the destroyer "Ward". The dropped torpedo passed exactly under the keel of the destroyer.
Takeoff of TDR-1 from the deck of an aircraft carrier
Encouraged by the success, the leadership of the fleet expected to form 18 strike squadrons of 1000 UAVs and 162 command "Avengers" by 1943. However, the Japanese fleet was soon defeated by conventional aircraft, and the program lost priority.
The main secret of the TDR-1 was a small-sized video camera designed by Vladimir Zvorykin. Weighing 44 kg, it had the ability to transmit images over a radio channel with a frequency of 40 frames per second.
“Project Option” is striking in its courage and early appearance, but we have 3 more amazing cars ahead:
3rd place - RQ-4 "Global Hawk"
Unmanned reconnaissance aircraft with max. takeoff weight 14.6 tons.
Flight duration: 32 hours.
Max. speed: 620 km / h.
Ceiling: 18,200 meters.
Engine: turbojet with a thrust of 3 tons, Flight range: 22,000 km.
Cost: $ 131 million (excluding development costs).
Built: 42 units.
The drone is equipped with a set of HISAR reconnaissance equipment, similar to that installed on modern U-2 reconnaissance aircraft. HISAR includes synthetic aperture radar, optical and thermal cameras, as well as a satellite data transmission channel at a speed of 50 Mbps. It is possible to install additional equipment for radio intelligence.
Each UAV has a set of protective equipment, including laser and radar warning stations, as well as an ALE-50 towed trap for deflecting missiles fired at it.
Wildfires in California, filmed by Global Hawk
A worthy successor to the U-2 Scout, hovering in the stratosphere with its enormous wings spread. Among the RQ-4 records are long-distance flights (flight from the USA to Australia, 2001), the longest flight among all UAVs (33 hours in the air, 2008), demonstration of drone refueling with a drone (2012). By 2013, the total flight time of the RQ-4 exceeded 100,000 hours.
The MQ-4 Triton drone was created on the basis of Global Hawk. Marine reconnaissance aircraft with a new radar capable of surveying 7 million square meters per day. kilometers of ocean.
"Global Hawk" does not carry strike weapons, but deservedly falls into the list of the most dangerous drones, because it knows too much.
2nd place - X-47B "Pegasus"
Unobtrusive reconnaissance and strike UAV with max. takeoff weight of 20 tons.
Cruising speed: Mach 0.9.
Ceiling: 12,000 meters.
Engine: from F-16 fighter, thrust 8 tons.
Flight range: 3900 km.
Cost: $ 900 million for research work on the X-47 program.
Built: 2 concept demonstrators.
Armament: two internal bomb compartments, combat load 2 tons.
A charismatic drone, built according to the "duck" scheme, but without the use of the PGO, the role of which is played by the supporting fuselage itself, made using the "stealth" technology and having a negative installation angle with respect to the air flow. To consolidate the effect, the lower part of the fuselage in the bow has a shape similar to the descent vehicles of spacecraft.
A year ago, the X-47B amused the audience with its flights from the decks of aircraft carriers. Now this stage of the program is nearing completion. In the future, the emergence of an even more formidable X-47C drone with a combat load of over four tons.
1st place - "Taranis"
The concept of an unobtrusive strike UAV from the British company BAE Systems.
Little is known about the drone itself:
Subsonic speed.
Stealth technology.
Turbojet engine with a thrust of 4 tons.
Appearance, reminiscent of the Russian experimental UAV "Skat".
Two internal weapons bays.
What is so terrible about this “Taranis”?
The goal of the program is to develop technologies for creating an autonomous, stealthy strike drone, which will make it possible to deliver high-precision strikes against ground targets at a long distance and automatically evade enemy weapons.
Prior to that, the controversy about the possible "jamming of communications" and "takeover of control" caused only sarcasm. Now they have completely lost their meaning: “Taranis”, in principle, is not ready to communicate. He is deaf to all requests and entreaties. The robot is indifferently looking for someone whose appearance falls under the description of the enemy.
Flight test cycle at the Australian Woomera training ground, 2013
“Taranis” is just the beginning of the journey. On its basis, it is planned to create an unmanned bomber-attack aircraft with an intercontinental flight range. In addition, the emergence of fully autonomous drones will open the way for the creation of unmanned fighters (since existing remotely controlled UAVs are not capable of conducting aerial combat, due to delays in their telecontrol system).
British scientists are preparing a worthy ending for all of humanity.
Epilogue
War does not have a woman's face. Rather, not human.
Unmanned vehicles are a flight to the future. It brings us closer to the age-old human dream: to finally stop risking the lives of soldiers and to leave feats of arms at the mercy of soulless machines.
Following Moore's rule of thumb (doubling the performance of computers every 24 months), the future may be unexpectedly soon …
