<story><title>More Air Force drones are crashing than ever as mysterious new problems emerge</title><url>https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/01/19/more-u-s-military-drones-are-crashing-than-ever-as-new-problems-emerge/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>sk8ingdom</author><text>This is relatively old &amp;quot;news&amp;quot; and the problem has since been resolved. It had to do with the coating used on one of the coils interfering with the software--as the article mentions, there is no redundancy for this system. The part was supplied by a subcontractor. General Atomics [1] is VERY vertically integrated (even making servos) and uses few COTS parts. Engines (and components), unfortunately, are pretty difficult to make--many of the engines were initially purchased second hand.&lt;p&gt;Once the problem was diagnosed, fielding the solution is &amp;#x2F; was another challenge. Some of these aircraft are in pretty remote areas.&lt;p&gt;These aircraft gained popularity and rapid adoption because they&amp;#x27;re substantially less expensive and VASTLY quicker to manufacture than any other option. Almost all customers prioritized cost and acquisition speed over long term reliability, which of course comes with a certain amount of risk. Testing and certifying an airframe to standards is expensive and time consuming [2] but has the advantage of improving reliability.&lt;p&gt;Also, this is just hogwash journalism.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Last year, the Army reported four major drone crashes, each involving the Gray Eagle — a model identical to the Predator.&lt;p&gt;Warrior &amp;#x2F; Gray Eagle &amp;#x2F; MQ-1C [3] is a 40% payload increase over Predator &amp;#x2F; MQ-1 [4] and the airframe was almost completely redesigned. Hell, the engine is even different. It&amp;#x27;s a different aircraft.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;General_Atomics_Aeronautical_Systems&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;General_Atomics_Aeronautical_S...&lt;/a&gt;
[2] &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.ga-asi.com&amp;#x2F;certifiable-predator-b&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.ga-asi.com&amp;#x2F;certifiable-predator-b&lt;/a&gt;
[3] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;General_Atomics_MQ-1C_Gray_Eagle&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;General_Atomics_MQ-1C_Gray_Eag...&lt;/a&gt;
[4] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;General_Atomics_MQ-1_Predator&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;General_Atomics_MQ-1_Predator&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>More Air Force drones are crashing than ever as mysterious new problems emerge</title><url>https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/01/19/more-u-s-military-drones-are-crashing-than-ever-as-new-problems-emerge/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>csours</author><text>&amp;gt; The Air Force also has contracted out more drone missions to private companies to meet what one general called “a virtually insatiable appetite” from military commanders for airborne surveillance.&lt;p&gt;It sounds like for now, contractors are only running surveillance missions.&lt;p&gt;What if contractors:&lt;p&gt;* Fly the drone and release ordnance that kills someone.&lt;p&gt;* Fly the drone but military personnel pushes the button that kills someone.&lt;p&gt;Does the contractor as a civilian bear liability differently than a member of the armed forces? Could a foreign country try to extradite and prosecute them? Could a foreign country arrest them if they left the USA?</text></comment>