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4 April 2012 Last updated at 19:02 ET =Inside America's Drone HQ= By Alastair Leithead BBC News, New Mexico


 * Summary: ** The newest form of technology in military action is unmanned aircraft. Americans and their allies are fighting wars from bases in the deserts of Nevada and New Mexico. Drones are able to fly above certain areas and take pictures, and the more controversial drones are able to attack with onboard weapons. Pilots are being trained to fly the drones, most of them in an Air Force Base in New Mexico, which is the biggest drone pilot training center in the world. American and British crews are learning to fly them, spy with them, and fire missiles from them. The two most common armed drones are the Predator and the Reaper. They have high-tech cameras and weapons under the wings and a grey hump where there would usually be a glass cockpit. Even though they are unmanned aircrafts there are always humans controlling the airplane. For this reason they are not robots. The drones are pretty advanced, and you can analyze shadow patterns and colors in the pictures taken to determine if the person is carrying a weapon. They give a huge advantage to the troops on the ground. The use of drones is quite controversial, mostly due to the media portrayals. However, according to Squadron Leader Dex, “…there’s nothing controversial about it. Through training and our smart decisions we avoid collateral damage as best as we can. All of our engagements, all of our missions are legitimate and legal.” In addition, there is the fear of psychological impacts of using drones. A pilot can be fighting a war in Afghanistan during the day, and then head straight home to their families. It is a very sharp contrast and can be quite difficult on troops. It also makes war seem less serious and emotional when you’re just watching what’s happening on a computer screen, almost like a computer game. There are many debates, but the fact of the matter is that unmanned aircrafts are very much a part of the future in fighting wars.


 * Relevance: ** This article relates to American Studies because a technological advance in the military is something that we have seen many times over the years, and they severely change war strategies. One of the most common, that we recently learned about in class, is the atomic bomb. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction and can complete destroy a target and everything in the target’s vicinity. The only use of atomic bombs during warfare was by the United States, one in Hiroshima and one in Nagasaki (Nuclear). These bombs led to the end of World War II, because of the large impact that it made. This weapon is also considered to be controversial due to the large number of civilian deaths. However, if this type of weapon were to be used today, the more developed versions could cause much more damage. Another technological advance in the military is laser guided bombs (Five). The advantage to this advance is that they are extremely accurate. The bomb or missile is given a straight line and travels directly to the target. This type of weapon eliminates the problem of unnecessary civilian deaths. When the bomb is so accurate it is extremely unlikely that a wrong person would be targeted (Five). Yet another example is stealth technology, which allows aircrafts capable of mass destruction to appear very small or not at all on radar systems. This creates a way for surprise attacks, or an alternative to sending in many other smaller aircrafts (Five). This idea was first attempted in 1958 when the U.S. tried to prevent radar tracking of its U-2 spy planes during the Cold War by the Soviet Union, but it didn’t work out as it was planned, so something else was needed. They tried to develop a shape design that would redirect electromagnetic waves from radars so that it could not be detected (Stealth). Many improvements have been made by the U.S. in the design and manufacturing of weapons to try to stay ahead of other countries. Drones are just another way that the U.S. is attempting to ensure safety to our people and take care of military problems.

This issue certainly relates to the topic of war and diplomacy, because an increase in technology will change how the U.S. deals with war. Our economy will be affected because of the spending that goes into creating new war technology, and it will also affect society because many people have their own opinions on war tactics. Some people feel that drones and other new technologies are controversial, cause too many civilian deaths, and should not be used. Others are in favor of drones because they want to see our nation further itself so that other countries do not have the upper hand against us.
 * Evaluation: ** The use of drones in fighting wars will undoubtedly drastically change the way wars are handled and perceived. As more and more technology is created and implemented in military action, it changes the way countries go to war. If you think back to colonial days and even scenes depicted in movies based on that time period, you picture two large groups running towards each other and having a bloody battle. War has certainly progressed from that time and now you picture a completely different scene with technology being the main component. Technology allows countries to wage war and the military to be nowhere near each other. It allows our weapons to do the work for us. As stated in the article, it makes war seem more like a video game. Under no circumstances should actual war be taken that lightly. However, because of this a decrease of emotional attachment in war may occur. Many veterans of war have depression issues and psychological problems because of the hurt and pain they witnessed and went through while they were at war. What would happen if they didn’t have to actually experience war? Would it fix problems like post-traumatic stress disorder, or would it create a whole new problem altogether?


 * Questions: **
 * 1) What are some other issues besides the moral controversy that has been found with the use of drones?
 * 2) What is the next step in military technological advancements?
 * 3) Have there been any issues with the extraction of emotion from war by using drones?
 * 4) Are there other countries besides our allies that have created this kind of advanced technology?
 * 5) Are drones used specifically for the military or are they also used for other purposes such as land surveillance?

**Works Cited ** "Five of the Most Impressive Military Technology Advances." //Yahoo! Contributor Network//. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. . <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Leithead, Alastair. "Inside America's Drone HQ." //BBC News//. BBC, 04 Apr. 2012. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17516156>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">"Nuclear Weapon." //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 Nov. 2012. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">"Stealth Technology." //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 Sept. 2012. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stealth_technology>.