I fought these things in Halflife2.

M. Schlabach

not very stealthy sounds like a lawnmower, you can hear it come from a mile away, and shoot it down in an ambush.

tomaartist

Sorry kid...you will shoot your eye out with that.....

CountryDevil

Strangely, I don't feel any safer

Munch

i have figured out what i want for Christmas.

PirateSasquatch

Oh, good. Now the police can shoot unarmed black men in the back by remote control!

Empire

@Wegmans: I thought they were manhacks in half-life 2.

kingofmars

@tomaartist:
That's why they'll put FLIR on it and attack in total darkness.

Scary.

DustyButt

well i guess someone has to say it.

"I, for one, welcome our new shotgun wielding helicopter overlords"

HAIL ANTS!

DSaddict

dirtywater crash-ops.

wetworker

Well, this sure beats my thermonuclear missile with the "Strangelove" handlebars.

Kaiser-Machead

Is "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" a reality show by any chance?

Lorne

If I'm flying a gun around a 1,000 yards beyond my grip, am I still "bear(ing) arms"? Seriously, I hope our Supreme Court justices are cognizant of innovation as they debate the 2nd Amendment.

Landor

Wow. He sure seems to have not hit that immobile cardboard box at all. God, the terrorists are done for.

Pope John Peeps II

I would really, really, really, like one of these.

GizFanAlpha

@M. Schlabach:

MADHATS!

Wegmans

Now we just need skynet to make it all work seamlessly together.

Tw33kR

Yea, this is at least 2 years old now. Call me when they're electric.

Barry99705

"Potential" is the word-of-the-post Charlie: I bet a 10 year old could down that thing with a rock, a stick, a water balloon, and what's with the tiny BBQ wheels on the front?

ANoel

@Empire:
They've been doing it all the time, just mindless drones on the streets.
Just get florescent colored wallets to deactivate them.

wetworker

This is a fairly old video. I'm sure there are much cooler versions out now.

James

Memo to Gang: Make sure it's a windy day.

Tedinasia

So basically, if your under 4' tall, you won't get hurt.
If you're taller, you can pretty much walk up behind it with a bat and disable it while it's focusing on the cardboard. Dumb.

gizmodohomepage

There is a good article in the latest Wired, basically saying that the US forces have no problem being militarily superior... with "network centric warfare" and "shooter in the loop kill decision time of 10sec".... It goes on to say that senior Generals recognize the issue is lacking of 'social networks' and talking with the townspeople of the places where they aim to maintain security....

"Sometimes the best weapons are the ones that don't shoot"

Link here:

NZRUSS

Dude they are the security drones from Rapture so these things are clearly 50-60 years old.

thechansen

Man would I love to see any of the armchair generals posting here actually ambush this with a baseball bat. Good luck McClane! That auto shotgun in unreal.

The Lab

Perfect decapitating height. yikes.

uberGoober

I wonder what would happen if they put a missile launcher on that thing?

GizFanAlpha

I got a .30 chopper, I'll try this out.

Palestina

If one COULD make this stealthier, it would seem to be ideal for black ops like assasinations! Self-destruct after mission, and no smoking gun (literally)!

Skeptical_Geezer

Ugh. Pathetic attempt to get Defense Dept. funding. ANY trained soldier could pop that thing with his service rifle at 300 meters. That wonderful auto shotgun's effective range? About 35 meters. And one hit is all it would take and down it goes.

Oldbrass

50 years ago, the American army was all but unstoppable. 50 years from now, a 12 year old with a homemade EMP will single-handedly take over the US.

Stang70Fastback

According to the site company which manufactures the copter, Neural Robotics Inc.: "This versatile UAV is perfect for surveillance, inspection, police, and military applications. The Explorer is powered by an 8.5 Hp turbine engine, allowing it to carry 18 pounds of payload for up to 50 minutes." Wait, there's more ... it can be controlled up to 40 miles away (line of sight distances, of course).

So there's the wind issue, the lack of stealth issue, the lack of time to search and locate and ... attempt to fire a gun at something and (pray to baby jesus) hit the sucker and it's extreme vulnerabilty to duck hunters. More likely, it'll have the maximum size bomb charge strapped to it. In terms of weaponry, it's a one-shot wonder. The US shows, once again, it's supremacy by making IED's airborne. Add to this mix the anemic speed, stripped of gear or not ... and you have a vehicle capable of ... harvesting tax payer dollars. Amen!

Let's face it, it'll perform recon on our own population and be used at our southern borders. If we're lucky, industry will see it as an option when it's too hazardous to send in an employee and/or when conducting limited search and rescue in open territory.

lianna_g

Extreme Deer Hunting.. : )

DJJS

hell no
i hope the give up manufacture the taser version. i prefer to die by a 12 gauge shot.

AndersonBMX

@Oldbrass: Good thing basically everyone the US military is likely to be fighting in the next few decades don't have much by the way of trained soldiers. Terrorists are fond of the "spray and pray" method of gun battle.

I know of at least one vertical takeoff UAV the US army is hoping to put into service in the next few years for small-unit aerial recon, and the air force recently bought a bunch of mini UAVs that are literally launched with hand-held slingshots.

Just because *you* don't see a use for something like this, doesn't mean there *isn't* one.

yehoni

"ANY trained soldier could pop that thing with his service rifle at 300 meters."

Yeah. The good news is, most of the guys we're fighting at the moment are nothing near "trained soldiers" in terms of skill. You're also assuming that they've got a full 300 meters to shoot the thing, whereas they might just lie in wait or pop around a corner (think "urban setting").

Erwos

lol, there was an episode of Dark Angel about this.

Shuft

@AndersonBMX:I'd like the taser version

GizFanAlpha

Don't hold your breath waiting for them to be accurate without hovering at 20 feet ... let alone 100. Remember- their max payload is 18 lbs. Take off some for the necessary camera ... and a total flight time of 50 minutes. Like I said ... their nemesis is duck hunters. Or haven't you "ever done an aerial target course" in the country?

lianna_g

@Oldbrass: Hitting something that size moving through the air with a standard M-4 is next to impossible at 300 yards. At a hover you have a chance. Have you ever done an arial target course in the military?

To be effective these UAVs have to be able to circle and shoot from a minimum altitude of 100 feet. Mount 10-15 of these armed UAVs (if they can effectively move and shoot) in low light conditions versus a ground force and I think UAVs would have a definite upper hand.

DustyButt

@M. Schlabach: Psh, I fought them in Bioshock. IN A HUGE BIG DADDY SUIT. Beat that, Freeman.

SomeoneUKno

@lianna_g:
Please. Show me one duck hunter that can hit a moving duck from 3 football fields away with an assault rifle. Not possible.

Or, for that matter show me one who can do it from 100 feet in the dark even with a shot gun.

DustyButt

The more I think about it, the real problem is that it's armed with the TOTAL wrong weapon. If you had it land on rooftops and armed it with a M107, then you'd have something. Forget about firing on the "fly" and make it a fast moving, mulit-positional sniper. THAT would be both scary for the enemy and far more effective in a fire fight, plus it wouldn't have to be anywhere near the fire fight. That make far more sense.

Oldbrass

@DustyButt: Moving through the air? Well, I'll grant you that it would be a very hard shot for one man. The video however, shows the thing not even being able to hit a stationary target while hovering. Could I hit it while hovering, at 300 m? Yes. I shoot well enough to hit it at that range, no question. If it was moving, a platoon could do it. They train soldiers how to all fire at/lead a jet as a group. This contraption would be cake. Now toss in any bipod mounted fully automatic rifle in there and the thing's done. At this stage, this is a big waste under battlefield conditions. Might spook someone, but little else.

Oldbrass

Potential, once again is the point... You would never see drones in combat that low; they would circle a neighborhood from higher up, collectively engaging targets. Like anything mechanical, combat drones will go through a progresive evolution.

tamoko

@DSaddict: No, nobody had to say it... but I knew someone would.

StarChaser Tyger