January 1, 2008

CASUALTY FREE WAR-MAKING IMPOSES CERTAIN OBLIGATIONS ON US:

Military Use of Unmanned Aircraft Soars (LOLITA C. BALDOR, 1/01/08, AP)

The military's reliance on unmanned aircraft that can watch, hunt and sometimes kill insurgents has soared to more than 500,000 hours in the air, largely in Iraq, The Associated Press has learned.

And new Defense Department figures obtained by The AP show that the Air Force more than doubled its monthly use of drones between January and October, forcing it to take pilots out of the air and shift them to remote flying duty to meet part of the demand.

The dramatic increase in the development and use of drones across the armed services reflects what will be an even more aggressive effort over the next 25 years, according to the new report.


Our ability -- as demonstrated most recently in Afghanistan, Iraq, Liberia, and Haiti -- to change regimes at little or no cost in financial or human terms raises the question of how one can morally tolerate something like Ba'athist rule in Syria.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 1, 2008 8:31 PM
Comments

The most significant contribution of the UAV is as a platform for non-communications emissions surveillance. This capability, coupled with tactical air supremacy, is why the whole world is Omdurman.

Let us revisit the militsry threshold concept. As a matter of sociology, there is a level of military competence which an actor must attain to be even in the game. Size and numbers are factors, but only to the extent that great wealth is needed to support the technology, numbers alone being actually a disadvantage. As technology progresses, the military threshold rises higher and higher, until we arrive at an end state at which competitive actors simply give up, as did THE FORMER SOVIET UNION. .

Posted by: Lou Gots at January 2, 2008 3:50 AM

Happy New Year Lou. Right as usual.

Posted by: erp at January 2, 2008 9:09 AM

Thanks. Happy New Year.

I drafted the comment in mind of No. One son who is overseas these days. Westpac, not sandbox. I think what he does in the Great Green Gun Club has something to do with non-communications electronic emissions surveillance, but he doesn't tell us anything about it.

Posted by: Lou Gots at January 2, 2008 4:51 PM

Whatever he is doing, we thank him for his service and pray he stays safe and returns soon.

Posted by: erp at January 2, 2008 6:25 PM
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