The US Navy is making an unmanned drone that has the ability to be launched from a cannon, and could be launched in the joint attack. The US Navy says that the drone is a low cost with UAV swarming technology also known as the locust program. The drone, once in the air, can fold its wing and can fly in formation. The demonstration of these drones will be given in 2016 when the US Navy will launch 30 locust drones.
The drones are comparatively smaller than previous versions and are compact. The new locust system can be used through ships, aircraft and land vehicles. The US Navy says that though there is human monitoring for missions, the mission can be pre-programmed.
The world has never seen this level of autonomous swarming flights and this technology is also new. The drones are not only expendable but also re-configurable with traditional weapon systems and high destructive power. Combat in a drone would reduce the risk by saving the pilots life.
On the other hand, human rights group routinely express their anger on the use of military drones. The activists criticize that despite the technology, there is a lot of collateral damage. The drones have a highly targeted nature but the loss of lives of innocent non-combatants is a big problem.
The prospect of autonomous swarms of drones carrying out pre-programmed military missions is only likely to increase such concerns.
