Look out, everybody, because here come the unmanned aerial vehicles, otherwise known as UAVs or drones. They’ve been flourishing in the Iraq War, starting with just a few unarmed drones when the conflict began in 2003, and now growing in numbers to more than 7,000. Many are packing serious missiles and bombs, and some soon could be autonomous. This is undoubtedly the dawn of an entirely new era of military might: robot wars.
Flying over battlefields in a variety of shapes and sizes, the aircraft are controlled from either the battlefield itself, thousands of miles away, or anywhere in between. They can keep an eye on bad guys wherever they may roam, and some can even blow them up at a moment’s notice. One reason they’re so compelling for military types: They present no danger to their pilots. To help you recognize and identify these scary robotic birds, we picked out a representative sample of six of these these soulless, empty flyers for you to contemplate
X-47B
Behold the future of aerial drones — this one could be the scariest of them all. It’s designed to be launched either from land or catapult-launched from ships, and could be refueled in midair, letting it fly indefinitely. This stealthy 19-foot-long aircraft will have the smarts to carry out its own missions, and the oomph to carry 4,500 pounds of bombs, missiles, and surveillance gear. There’s even talk of loading it up with lasers and microwave weapons. Look out, everyone, because this is the flying killer robot of your nightmares.