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Poco Loco

On Mon, 20 Jan 2014 23:57:38 -0500, wrote:

On Mon, 20 Jan 2014 17:54:12 -0500, Poco Loco
wrote:

It would be interesting to know just exactly how autonomous the drones
are... Can they discern friendly from foe, can they determine what
collateral damage will be, and decide if it's "worth it" or not to take
out the mission?

The friend versus foe part is electronic. The pilots of manned B-52s can't tell what the collateral
damage will be either, and they can't determine 'worth' of a mission. Those guys fly *way* up there.

That was true in the Vietnam missions but these days the B-52 is just
loitering up there with a bay full of precision guided munitions that
get targeted from the ground.
A team on the ground points a laser designator on the target, makes a
call to the B-52 and a minute or 2 later the target goes up in a puff
of smoke. The pilot may not ever see the target or even the explosion.

Your last sentence made the point I was making.