MULE And FireScout Officially Canceled
Writing by Evan Ackerman on Friday, 15 of January , 2010 at 12:35 am
Well, this sucks… In order to pay for Iraq and Afghanistan, the army has been forced to essentially gut the core of its Future Combat System (which has already been gutted a few times) by eliminating the MULE and FireScout unmanned vehicles. One variant of the MULE will remain (a lightly armed version), but the FireScout is toast, to be replaced by an improved version of the Shadow UAV which (for the record) is an unmanned airplane, not a helicopter.
It may make fiscal sense to do this, but it’s disappointing that the Future Combat System has been replaced with “Army Brigade Combat Team modernization.” In other words, we’re kinda giving up on future, let’s just try and get to modern. And having seen the FireScout in person, I’m not sure that a small UAV can really take the place of a sizeable unmanned helicopter when it comes to diverse capability. Yes, the sensor requirements might be the same, but that’s that “it’ll work for now” as opposed to a “what future options might this other platform enable” mentality. As I said, it’s hard to argue against the whole cost and efficiency thing, it’s just sad that one of the most promising aerial platforms I’ve seen is getting canceled for budget reasons.
[ TheHill ] VIA [ Danger Room ]
Comments (3)
Category: Military
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Comment by Rune
Made Saturday, 16 of January , 2010 at 5:53 am
Well that blows, I saw both of these on Discovery Channel’s Ultimate Weapons just a couple of weeks ago, and they both looked impressive, Firescout especially, which was also being considered by the coast guard and others.
Comment by Skater_j10
Made Tuesday, 19 of January , 2010 at 12:05 pm
Well I can agree that these robots are impressive, I will not be saddened but happy about their disappearance. Robots that assist in and directly kill people are not on my list of “cool” robots. I was sad when Honda’s ASIMO project folded, a robot that was going to help people in the future, so hearing that military robot projects are dying is a plus in my opinion. I’d like to see a world where Asimov’s Laws are applied.
I guess my opinion points towards the question: Are military robots a good thing? What good can come of it? A view that is somewhat posed in the book “Wired for War” as well.
Comment by ul labels
Made Tuesday, 22 of November , 2011 at 5:20 am
More people need to read this and understand this aspect of the story. I cant believe you’re not more popular.
