The BBC have just launched their new (and improved, but not yet perfect) news site. I thought I would pick out a feature that caught my eye as an excuse to test it out.

The other day, the MOD announced their new impressive looking Taranis UCAV.  Seemingly capable of mashing up a small village without the pilot actually being on the same continent. Not wanting to be outdone across the pond, Boeing launched their ‘Phantom Eye‘ yesterday, which not only sounds like a failed Marvel super hero, but looks like cartoon bomb with a 2×4 nailed to the top. Interestingly, this battle of technology is not over yet. Boeing proudly announced the air-life of the Phantom Eye to be 4 days, the MOD swiftly counter-attacked with options for a new UAV that can stay up for a week.

Somehow this all feels very much like a classic engineering battle akin to the ‘spac- race’ or the ‘age of flight’ in the last century – But I’m still not convinced. Firstly I think the general architecture of these things makes them appear like blind dolphins with anger issues. They seem basic, savage, uncaring and even disposable. Secondly, huge of amounts of money is being wasted on these projects. Do we really need a UAV that can stay up for a week? Some would argue that the technology will filter down to the commercial sector and we can all benefit from economical flight – but I’ve got a feeling this will remain fairly secret for some time. On top of all this, I’m not entirely at ease with the fact that a morose military chap sat in a dimly-lit room somewhere in Arizona could kill us all with a video game joystick.

Without any future chances of being a dashing, moustioached, silk-scarf wearing fighter pilot, I may just have to build my own drone.