U.S. Army working on universal unmanned aircraft control interface

U.S . Army working on universal unmanned aircraft control interface

I came across this today.

So the Army is flying UAV's?

I thought that was a Airforce job.

And if they do make this. Will it be adopted across the military branches?

Any thoughts?

The U.S. Army is working to develop a universal control interface for unmanned aircraft systems to let operators fly more than one type using the same controls.

Currently, the Army's 15W Soldiers are trained for a singular platform, which includes either the AAI RQ-7 Shadow or the General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle. Training and Doctrine UAS command capability manager Col. Paul Cravey says a universal operator and control interface will be one of the biggest changes to the program.

a reply to: grey580

The Army flies tactical aircraft, including UAVs.

a reply to: grey580

Playstation 4 controller.

Nailed it.

The U.S. can now pay me a trillion dollars for saving them two trillion dollars.

I found this interesting. I remember seeing a hand launched UAV on a television show. But neither of the ones listed in the article look like the one I saw.

Here are a couple of images which show the scale:
General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle

AAI RQ-7 Shadow

Zaphod, I see that the Shadow is catapult launched, but what kind of runway does the Gray Eagle need to take off and landing? And how is the Shadow landed?

-dex

a reply to: DexterRiley

The Gray Eagle is an upgraded Predator. It uses a fixed base to launch and recover. The Shadow uses an arresting gear system to recover.

Skynet begins.

a reply to: Cynic

I keep hearing that, every time something new comes out. Did you even bother reading the source link?

a reply to: grey580

The army has been flying the Grey Eagle for some time now.

a reply to: Zaphod58

the shadow is neat.

is it a medium loiter time drone?

looks like you could tow that on a trailer and deploy it in the field.

a reply to: grey580

That's the point of them. Easy to transport, no fixed base requirement, etc.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I wonder how long it will be until the police get to use those.

Or if they sell some for LE use already.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Yes.
Skynet begins.

a reply to: Cynic

And how exactly is a human controlled unmanned vehicle the beginning of Skynet.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Zaph has a point.

We still have a bit to go till we have fully autonomous AI making it's own decisions.

a reply to: Zaphod58
Computers learn. This is a fact. IBM has Watson, the military has UAV's. The crossover is inevitable.

originally posted by: Cynic
Skynet begins.

contrary to popular belief, the world is still a long way away from AI.

a reply to: Cynic

And again, now is a human controlled system, the human does everything from starting the engines to shutting them down at the end of the mission, learn and become Skynet?

What would the UAV,s be used for?Recon,squad assault or overwatch defence?Laser pewpewpews?

a reply to: Blackfinger

Mostly ISR. The Gray Eagle can carry 4 Hellfire or 4 Viper Strike for ground attack, or interestingly 8 Stingers in their air to air modification.