Ask the man in the street who invented the pilotless drone and I’m pretty sure the answer will be U.S. engineers in the employ of the military.
But of course, the drone was conceived and invented by men of vision, dreamers, entrepreneurs.
Let’s face it, democratic governments are not—and should not be—investing in chosen industries. Just look at Obama’s Solyndra investment. A debacle that has cost you, the American tax payer, millions of dollars.
Governments stifle creativity because government works towards a one-size fits all model. Once again, Obamacare is a perfect example of a government run program that will, inevitably, destroy free choice and innovation in health care. Government programs always suffocate creativity and innovation. Take a look in your medicine cabinet. Not one of the life enhancing pills upon which you rely was conceived or invented by government.
Thus, it’s not wonder that one of the best weapon systems currently in use, the jihad-killing, pilotless drone, was conceived by a brilliant engineer—an Israeli-born Jew—and built, like the Apple computer, in a garage.
In 1980, Abraham Karem, an engineer who had emigrated from Israel, retreated into his three-car garage in Hacienda Heights outside Los Angeles and, to the bemusement of his tolerant wife, began to build an aircraft.
The work eventually spilled into the guest room, and when Karem finished more than a year later, he wheeled into his driveway an odd, cigar-shaped craft that was destined to change the way the United States wages war.
The Albatross, as it was called, was transported to the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, where it demonstrated the ability to stay aloft safely for up to 56 hours — a very,very long time in what was then the crash-prone world of drones.
Three iterations and more than a decade of development later, Karem’s modest-looking drone became the Predator, the lethal, remotely piloted machine that can circle above the enemy for nearly a day before controllers thousands of miles away in the southwestern United States launch Hellfire missiles toward targets they are watching on video screens.
The emergence of hunter-killer and surveillance drones as revolutionary new weapons in the wars in Iraq andAfghanistan, and in counterterrorism operations in places such as Pakistan andYemen, has spawned a multibillion-dollar industry, much of it centered in Southern California, once the engine of Cold War military aviation.
Over the next 10 years, the Pentagon plans to purchase more than 700 medium- and large-size drones at a cost of nearly $40 billion, according to a Congressional Budget Office study. Thousands more mini-drones will be fitted in the backpacks of soldiers so they can hand-launch them in minutes to look over the next hill or dive-bomb opposing forces.
Full story with graphs and videos at the Washington Post.
H/T John Noonan
Bill Brandt…re the Mustang: after the war, Hermann Goering said it was when he saw Mustangs over Berlin that he knew the war was lost.
Re “unofficial” projects in general…I can’t find the link, but IIRC General Electric’s first diesel-electric locomotive was something of a rogue project—higher management had decided that GE should stick to pure electrics, but the crew in Erie decided to go ahead and build a diesel-electric anyway. The resultant product line wound up giving GM Electromotive some serious competition.
David – I was amazed in reading about the combat radius of the Spitfire and the Me109 – about 300 miles.
That is why the Germans lost the Battle of Britain – when Hitler and Goring – enraged that the British bombed Berlin after the Luftwaffe mistakenly bombed the London docks (long story about that but I don’t want to go off tangent….for once 😉 ) – anyway Hitler ordered the whole focus of the campaign changed from RAF airfields to London.
Long story short, from their bases in France the Me109s only had short loiter time over London before they had to return or run out of gas.
This gave the RAF an easier time of picking off the German bombers.
To get to my point the Mustang had a range of something like over 1,000 miles (I think) allowing it to escort the bombers from England to Germany – even Berlin – and back.
It did use a drop tank and a tank behind the pilot making it a flying gas can 😉
On unofficial projects in general or breakthrough projects in particular they almost always are created either by one person or a small focused team.
3Ms PostIt notes are an example – they were pushed by one employee – who spent a lot of time finding just the right adhesive – he ended up creating a new market. He fought 3M management much of the way.
Look at Lockheed’s ‘Skunk Works” and the things they created under the legendary Kelly Johnson – a small team of engineers working autonomously from parent Lockheed …the SR-71 ‘Blackbird” as just one example….
Committees rarely make memorable or breakthrough creations….
This is off-topic, but for those of you who will be fasting tomorrow, on the 10th of Tevet, I wish you all an easy one.
I can think right off the top of my head of 2 more inventions – that became iconic weapons. Both developed outside the usual govt procurement rules (with massive influxes of money) –
Back in WW2 North American Aviation was swamped trying to supply the British with the P40 Warhawk – powered by GM’s V12 Allison engine it was a decent plane but no match to the latest Me109 or Zero.
The British were desperate and to try and help them NA decided to develop a fighter on their own – and in 6 months time – from conception to prototype – what became the P51A first flew. 6 months because they didn’t have to deal with constant govt participation in the development process.
Well, the British liked the plane but because of its Allison engine – it really wasn’t suited to high altitudes.
The British kept it in a ground support role but decided to experiment with it themselves.
Someone had the idea of putting the Rolls Royce Merlin engine in – like the Allison – liquid cooled V12 and supercharged – but once the Mustang got the Merlin it became one of the most formidable fighters in WW2. (and one of the most beautiful but we don’t produce weapons on looks 😉 )
Because if its great range it was able to escort our B17s and B24s to Germany and back – and the bomber’s atrocious loses started dropping.
Hmm (time to go to the store to get some dinner so I’ll make the next one short)
Sidewinder air to air missile – the Navy fought it – developed by some guy (I think at China Lake) pretty much own his own – ended up being cheap and simple and…..effective.
The Navy ended up using it for decades (from 1956 or so) and they may still be using it.
I’m too lazy to look it up on Wikipedia 😉
Our oldest son was in the Kansas Air Force National Guard. They read the readings from the drone at McConnel AFB. He was in the war, but not near the war in the middle east. They fly them from Vegas. He toured their facility once. His flight was free & he vowed to always fly commercial after that trip.
I *might* disagree with calling Karem the inventor of the pilotless drone — there were many pilotless aircraft dating back to W.W. I (the Kettering Bug) and W.W. II, but Karem certainly raised the bar (substantially) in modern UAV development.
An interesting tangent to the hunter-killer drones of today is actor/pilot/inventor Reginald Denny who created the OQ-1 and OQ-2 target drones during World War II. His company, the Radioplane Company, produced thousands of target drones for the Army and Navy. An Army photographer noticed a young woman working at the company named Norma Jean and the rest is, as they say, history!
In the spring of 1945, Norma Jeane (later known as Marilyn Monroe) was discovered at the Radioplane Plant by a U.S. Army Photographer Private David Conover. USAAF Captain Ronald Reagan had sent Private Conover to Reagan’s friends plant to photograph Women War Workers.