Another example of Republicans putting action ahead of words. For years DARPA has sponsored a contest to produce an unmanned vehicle. Last year for the first time someone qualified for the prize - $2 million. This year the contest was slated to have a $2.7 million prize. This is not just "American Idol" for geeks. Years after autopilot was perfected for aircraft we are still at the very early stages of anything for ground vehicles. If we had a working system it could save thousands of lives in the Army and Marine Corps. Its so important, DoD has mandated 1/3 of all vehicles be unmanned by 2015. Well its going to be a lot harder to get there because the current administration has banned awarding of prizes. So while they could find $20 million for a "Victory Celebration," there is no money for research that might achieve that victory.
The next Republican who squawks about security should be asked "Why did you cut funding to unmanned vehicles that have been so successful in the war on terror?" "Why did you cut funding to unmanned vehicles that you citizen President Clinton for not using to kill bin Laden when it was that research that led them to be armed instead of unarmed like Clinton had available?"
More at the link below:
http://www.wired.com/...