Sunday, November 18, 2012

Military drones zero in on $400 billion civilian market


Science Daily reports By Chris WickhamPosted 2012/11/14 at 2:21 pm EST
http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/bre8ad1hr-us-drones-civilian/:  

[EXCERPTED] LONDON, Nov. 14, 2012 (Reuters) — Military drone technology, which has revolutionized warfare over the last decade, will be ready for civilian use within four years and could create a market worth more than $400 billion. That's the prediction from a UK research project backed by the government and top aerospace companies hoping for a windfall as many of the dull, dirty and dangerous jobs done by manned aircraft are replaced by drones....

....Chris Elliott, an engineer and barrister who is a consultant to the ASTRAEA project, acknowledged there will be a lot of work needed to win public acceptance but added: "The Pandora's Box is open".

The use of drones in war zones has thrown up difficult ethical issues, particularly on accountability for mistakes, and the shift into civilian use is likely to be just as controversial.

Majia here: We are seeing the expansion of the military-surveillance complex (see my post here on the military-surveillance complex

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