Interesting article about the USAF Predator in todays edition of the USA Today. The article is about how the Air Force is short staffed and can only fill about 1 in 3 of the mission requests it gets. The thing that caught my eye, however, is the accident rate. They have lost 53 of 139 Predators and only 26% of that has been due to enemy action. Pilot (ground operater) error accounts for 30.2% and (get this!) Mechanical/computer failure accounts for 34.0%. So the computer has a higher accident rate than humans. hmmm. Granted, I realize a larger plane would have more redundancy and more automation, but consider these UAVs are operating from a basic airstrip where there are zero ATC considerations and they are dependent on decent weather. I think the FedEx guys can relax...looks like it's going to be awhile.
Here' the link:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-28-drones-supply_N.htm
Here' the link:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-28-drones-supply_N.htm