THE NEW WORLD OF DRONES

Nov 9, 2013, Pakistan; the blue sky was momentarily disrupted by a killer with wings, as it moved towards its target, unnoticed. Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud didn't imagine his death at the hands of this pinnacle of technology, as he arrived home in his car. It was too late when the two missiles from the silent killer slammed into the car, rendering the Pakistani Taliban forces leaderless for some time.

It was just another drone kill for the operators of world renowned US unmanned aerial drone 'Predator'. For them, killing was a just a click away. The drone strikes have become so common in some parts of Afghanistan that it is hardly raising any eyebrows nowadays.

Technology had always dominated the world with displays such as these. In the field of warfare, technology has paved a new way with the introduction of drones or unmanned vehicles that are able to perform operations which are considered difficult by many pilots.

A MQ1- Predator in all its glory                  Courtesy: General Atomics, USA

Drone Series

US Predator can be regarded as a first generation of drone series in development. Currently the MQ1 Predator UAV system is capable of carrying

·         2 × AGM-114 Hellfire (MQ-1B)

·         4 × AIM-92 Stinger (MQ-1B)

·         6 × Griffin air-to-surface missiles

Future developments will add more arsenals to the killer drone (much to pacifist's worry). Other developments will include stealth technology (though it has been inducted to some prototype drones, like Lockheed Martin RQ 170 Sentinel UAVs) and total invisibility (yeah, thatz cool for sure !).

Playing God !!!                          The drone Control

Other drones being operated around the world include:

IAI Heron                   -           Israel

DRDO Lakshya          -           India

UAV Zala                   -           Russia

Guizhou Soar Dragon -           China

Dassault Moyen          -           France

Luna X 2000               -           Germany

Ababil                         -           Iran

Drones have been playing major roles in Afghanistan and Pakistan helping US in their 'cleansing' raids in these territories. Though the world condemns the US effort, the technology is praised by everyone. Controlling a flying killer from a 'safe' control station is really a boon to future pilots, if they are called so! The world has seen major improvements in drone development programs everywhere.

Formerly, the drones were intended to do surveillance work. But as needs grew, a new breed of these advanced machines began to roll out of the production floor with offensive weapons attached. And in no time, the military began to exploit its abilities. The features  of drones that make them favourable counterparts of human pilots include, high altitude operation, without any need of oxygen, manoeuvring under extreme g’s, point at which a human pilot dozes off, preventing human loss if shot down, to execute any kind of mission without fear of death (a 100% completion rate, under all circumstances). It is not far when fighter pilots will be assigned ground duties and their titles changed to ‘Flight overseer’!

The current technology limits the drone function to remote controlled one. The operators need to trigger weapons via remote control system, instead of giving drone complete control over the decision. But the game is going to change very soon. With the advent of AI systems, the drone will be able to take its own decisions (with some degree of morality, I hope) while pursuing the mission.

In Fiction

Drones have become common in fiction; video games and movies. There’s hardly any future (at least in popular media), without any drones.

Call of Duty Black Ops 2 (Video game)

COD: BO2 has shown glimpses of our possible future (screw the story, I am talking about tech!). Future wars will feature human soldiers fighting alongside drones, if not against them!

Team Elite                                                     COD: Black Ops 2

Apart from large drones, the game also features quadraptors with onboard weaponry for engaging enemies. Though I am still doubtful of its deployment in realtime scenario, as a quad is an easy target for any gunman, an improved version with good resilience to gunfire will prove very lethal for enemies.

Oblivion (Movie)

This Tom Cruise starring Sci-Fi movie has shown both sides; supportive and destructive nature of drones. It showed how the drone could pose real threat, even to its users, if left unchecked.

Stealth (Movie)

A pretty neat movie telling the tale of three top combat pilots and their new fourth wingman; a drone named EDI(yeah, like thatz gonna sell!). Director Rob Cohen’s effort shed light on some of the serious issues regarding the self learning machine, its morality and decision taking abilities. The drone is depicted as a learning baby; reflecting what it learns from human colleagues and echoing it, often by destructive means.

N.B: Albert Einstein - "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." 

THE ELEMENTUM ( for World Control)

THE      ELEMENTum

[For Complete Control]

The world may be big, but its roots are mainly five; The Five Elements, as I term them. These elements  form the very basis of everything around us; from day to day life to long term planning. They are powerful, influential and beyond all, very essential for sustenance. Nothing works without them, nothing stirs. We are all engulfed by them. They define the world  and act as its wheels. The Five Elements comprises:

1. INDUSTRY: Industry is a strong necessity that tends to answer to all our needs. From paper-clips to skyscrapers and marvelous machines, industries compete for perfection by challenging the impossible. A backbone of any nation, it builds the future by co-relating science and technology. An entity controlling the industry has more chance of controlling the future.

2. FINANCE : Nothing works without money, not in this world. Any idea, however smart and groundbreaking it is, needs funds to put it into motion. Finance sector plays a major role in forming the base of any startups or new launches. In the end, its all about money, if not glory.

3. MEDIA : No man (or woman) in this world likes to be enslaved. History is filled with stories and legends of struggle for freedom. The sense of independence is high today, as every human views himself with some degree of respect and confidence. Basically you cant take away freedom with people knowing. So what's the solution? You take it away without letting them know. Yes, the solution lies in Media and Surveillance.

Media is a very powerful manipulator. It radically changes the mindset of people. It takes a lot of intelligence and logic to stay isolated from the general mindset of the society around you. Media can topple governments, start riots and condemn anyone; a kind of brainwashing. You spread a spark, an idea and wait till it becomes a huge fire. What better tool can one have to manipulate people for his/ her benefits?

4. RELIGION: An element for some serious debate, Religion is considered useless for any intelligent individual who realizes its unimportance in the logic/scientific part of his/her life. But one will be amazed to learn that, though irrelevant, Religion is a powerful weapon in instigating mass responses and riots. Some silly religious disputes often leads to dire results in certain parts of the world. In a multilingual and multicultural land like India, disputes are common on the basis of Religion. The same is true in middle east and global terrorism.

People (the believers) put complete trust in god, letting themselves get easily controlled by some 'Men of God'.

5. POLITICS: There's nothing to discuss about this. Its all around you. Though the first four are linked arbitrarily, this Element is in all. Politics is a science of governing. It meddles with everything in this world (even science !). There's none more powerful than those 'chosen' (or fooled to get chosen) by people.

THE BOTTOMLINE  IS, IF YOU CONTROL THESE FIVE ELEMENTS, THE ELEMENTUM, YOU CONTROL THE WORLD !!!

There is no limit for nanotechnology. Ranging from cosmetics to bulletproof vests (if not the the entire suit!), the applications bewilder us. There is hardly any future without this sophisticated field. The world has seen the development of giant missiles, bombs and armaments. But the real masterpiece of the future will be small, so small that it will be invisible to the eye. Nanobots, smart-dust, nano-generators etc will soon dominate the world and drive its structure. Be it civilian or military applications, nanotechnology will give the ultimate result.
People have long feared the BIG, Its about time to fear the small !!!

The world is at the verge of a major breakthrough, especially in the field of prosthesis. Tech giants are continuously pushing the boundaries of human abilities by introducing new systems. The time of the handicapped is over with the introduction of these pinnacles of technology. In a few years, , the handicapped of yesterday will become the Superhuman of  tomorrow. For those still wondering at the capabilities of the cyborgs; I personally suggest 'Deus Ex: Human Revolution'; a 2012 video game that had shown us the untold power of Prosthesis. I really hope such systems would come into being, and not the problems associated with such new found powers.
                              The future will be full of miracles.......and uncertainty.