The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle's Identity Crisis
Abstract
Strategic leaders of the information age face a future of ambiguous threats and challenges as well as potential technological advancements never before envisioned just a few years ago. Many lessons of the past may no longer apply to vastly complex conditions of the future. However past experiences provide the foundation from which leaders can best align and posture themselves to take rational leaps of visionary faith. Hopefully such instrumental leaps will have ideal direction and enough momentum to land on stable approaches to best traverse grounds of future threats and challenges. The unmanned aerial vehicle's (UAV's) sense of identity is ambiguous due to past experiences. It is still in an infancy stage when compared to the advanced evolutionary lines and numerous roles and missions of manned aircraft. This paper examines the history and background of the UAV to identify and document principal reasons for its immaturity. Strategic visionaries must have open minds to explore new ways of developing transforming and employing assets. They must search for new approaches in order to best support effective application of all instruments of power. The United States of America can no longer simply respond to the changing environment with belated modifications to existing systems and strategies. In order to remain the world's greatest superpower US strategic leaders must be openly aggressive in the pursuit of innovation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 19, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA424221
Entities
People
- Dennis Larm
Organizations
- United States Army War College