So Pat, if you're so sure that talking about this stuff is so much against the "rules" (yes, I've known what ITAR is for many years now) why don't you go over to the forum on RCGroups and spout your "doom and gloom" on every thread there? I think the reaction would be classic.

It will take awhile to get the regs. worked out, but you will see autonomous vehicles in the air over the US for non-military, commercial purposes. It doesn't take any elaborate or "secret" technologies to do it (we've built dozens of autonomous prop and turbine aircraft and helicopters for student projects and research). As soon as the FAA can convince themselves that they won't be running into all of the spam cans and composite wonders plying the lower skys of Class G airspace, they will allow it, hopefully within the next few years...

As far as being a technology that can be exploited for doing bad things, you can do a heck of alot more damage a lot easier with a truck load of processed cow S&#$...

Now the military stuff, that's another story, but nobody is encouraging anyone to discuss that here - anymore than anyone is encouraging the engineers at LM that are working on the Raptor to discuss the inner workings of it fly-by-wire flight control system over on the EAA or Sport Flyers discussion boards. Not that anyone who IS working on classified military stuff would be stupid enough to discuss it on an open forum.

Bob