So a few days back i watched the Academy Award winning movie 'Zero Dark Thirty' by Kathryn Bigelow. The movie summarises and dramatises the decade long hunt for Osama Bin Laden. The movie shows a reconstruction of the top secret military helicopters used in crossing the border from Afghanistan into Abbottabad, Pakistan without being detected by the Pakistani radars. That got me interested into reading more into aerial military stealth technology available and being tested. So i came across this article.
It's about a prototype still under construction, the X-47B (a successor to the widely recognisable B-2 bomber). Now it also comes with the complete stealth capabilities of the B-2 and resembles it in it's design as well, but at the same time looks like a completely different machine. I mean look at this thing!! looks like something straight out of a star wars movie.
It will have the ability to fold it's wings inside, which is ideal for life on the deck of a mammoth aircraft carrier in the open seas. The pilot will be able to hop off the plane and remote control it to 'taxi' (air force term for parking) into position, as navigating a plane as big as the X-47B on an aircraft carrier can be tricky business when done from inside the cockpit. Now for the most exciting part of the technology, it will be completely autonomous that is, it will be able to carry out complete bombing missions on it's own without a pilot, with just the need for a few clicks of the mouse by the pilot on a computer screen. Is this the beginning of drone wars? Keep in mind that these planes come with complete nuclear capabilities. Will the guilt factor of the pilot, sent on a nuclear bombing mission, be out of the question from now on? I am asking these questions because in the case of the famous Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings at the end of the second World War some of the pilots involved with the process were so guilt ridden after the whole affair that a few of them even tried committing suicide, Claude Eatherly a support pilot for the Hiroshima bombings was famous for his erratic behaviour and suicide attempts after the war in this case. Some might say that there is still responsibility involved with sitting on the computer and having to do the clicks for the bombings but we all know that takes a lot away from the experience, to me, essentially, it won't be any different from playing a game of World of Warcraft to be honest. What is your opinion? Please leave a comment below. I have also added a video clip below that demonstrates the X-47B in action, don't forget to check it out.
Maisam Abbas
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