Monday, July 06, 2009

IS IT A BIRD? IS IT A PLANE?


No. It’s a surveillance device.

When I was a kid I used to see a comic strip – I’m damned if I can remember the title – that featured something called a Watchbird that came with the highly forbidding slogan “This is a Watchbird watching you!” Now it seems we have the real thing. We may not be able to care for our sick, educate our children, or find jobs for the workforce, but there’s always a couple of million for a new spy toy. The story comes from our pal Faux Smoke.

“AeroVironment is designing and building a prototype flapping-wing unmanned aircraft under the second phase of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Nano Air Vehicle (NAV) program. The $2.1 million Phase 2 contract was awarded after the company accomplished controlled hovering flight of an air vehicle using a pair of flapping wings for both propulsion and control. The milestone was achieved in December 2008 with the 20-second flight of the Mercury interim test vehicle, says the company. Under remote control, the battery-powered vehicle climbed and descended, flew sideways, and forward and backward.” (Click here for more and a video.)

The secret word is Tweet

5 comments:

stu said...

reports that n korea have accelerated their robot cat programme are unsubstantiated.

Ghostwoods said...

Oh, for Gruad's sake. That really is fucked up.

Forget andoids. I'm starting to get Uncanny Valley moments off reality.

Denny the Pervert said...

Bring on the electric sheep.

William Kretschmer said...

Munro Leaf's Watchbird cartoons from back in the 50s?

I never was a bird lover...

Gerin said...

Flying vibrator. Does it counts?