Quote Originally Posted by slapout9 View Post
Nice article. The pilots are right to be concerned about being targeted. The more this Technology is used for Long term operations with no Strategic Outcome the more it will become vulnerable to a series of Counter Measures (probably Low Tech ones). One of which will be counter targeting and they have no concerns whatsoever about civilian casualties. And I really don;t think it is much of a problem to cross our borders either.....but no worries we have that fantastic Homeland Security Department Entropy you should keep your guard up!
Slap,

You are certainly correct. While remote UAV ops bring a lot of flexibility and advantages, they also introduce a lot of vulnerabilities. The article talked about "lost link" and that is something that continues to be problem. It's one reason why I don't see unmanned fighters coming anytime soon - the technology is not nearly reliable and robust enough for that.

On the personnel side, it is pretty scary what is available. I did a little experiment a couple of years ago. I took my name, and paid about $25 to one of those online background check websites to pull up information on me. With just a name and that small amount of money, I was astonished at the amount of information available. Basically my entire credit history, my previous six addresses, my current address, my creditors and bank, etc. For a bit more money, even more detailed information is available and you can even hire them to do research of local records. If you take my name and look it up on the vets databases that are available, you can find out that I was in the Navy, my separation rank and my MOS - Intelligence. It's all kind of scary. I have a friend that spent a few years doing open source intel for SOCCOM and it's pretty amazing the information that's available to someone with the will, some time, and a bit of skill.

That's the reason I stay pseudonymous online, even here. I don't want my name associated with intelligence and I don't want foreign governments or hostile organizations to develop a dossier on me, not to mention internet trolls.