Well, I have been gone for a while but as I was reading through the forums to catch up this idea struck me.
We should have UAVs. Every developed nation in the world owns at least one model of them, why wouldn't that be in the future?
ProsWell, for one there is recconaisance, detailed intel on enemy corporation's troop amounts/positioning. ("Oh by the way Alpha Lance, they're not retreating, they're drawing you into an ambush by the artillary over the hill.")
No risk to the pilots, they're sitting back in a box at Corporation HQ. ("Aw shucks, they shot me down. Linking up to a new drone."
They can be equipped with precision missiles to take out high profile missiles. ("Hey Larry, that mech thinks his supply truck is going to be refuelling him. How wrong he is. Click.")
They fly quiet and are hard to detect, but once they are discovered they are easy to take down. ("So suddenly I lose all video, but the IR feed shows several missiles inbound. Think they discovered me?")
But for every Pro there is an equal and opposite
ConsThe video feeds can easily be jammed or obscurred by bad weather. ("We haven't seen anything thats been going on thanks to the giant duststorm thats lasted for 3 days now.")
With their being Remote controlled vehicles comes many risks, jamming the communications, hacking into the feed and taking control of the drone for your own corporation. ("We found this drone flying around our HQ, its sitting in the hanger bay now.")
They are disproportionately expensive. (Every Hellfire missile fired from a modern day Predator drone costs $72,000.) This will limit them to pretty much to only the 4 major corps and the wealtiest of the Merc groups.
They require a stationary command base, nomadic groups can't use them effectively.
The energy shields on Mechs could probably stop all but the strongest (and most horrendously expensive) missile that could be found on a single drone.
So....These are basically more of an espionage and teamwork tool, useless to individuals but invaluable to corporations about to mount an attack (or expecting one). And the pilot is safe. But personally, if I was the head of a corporation and Pilot X kept crashing my multi-million dollar aircraft he would soon become Grunt X.
So give me your thoughts and opinions, and be happy i'm asking instead of just reading your entrails like normal.
1 week later...and this is why I prefer reading entrails, Instant response. I know you aren't
all mindless zombies with no thoughts on this matter, someone has to have some ideas... something... anything...
