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"In WWII, they had a saying that there are no atheists in foxholes. I think the modern equivalent of that is that there are no jaded, bored people in the high-tech industry, in the land of really good hardcore geeks."
- Neal Stephenson
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| Hawk Anti-Drone | ||
| An autonomous unmanned air vehicle (UAV) designed to seek and destroy other UAVs. |
When the watchbirds become too troublesome, the hawks come to the rescue.
| "The Hawks are especially built to hunt down watchbirds. They're stronger, faster, and they've got better armor..."
"But anything the watchbirds can do, the Hawks can do better," Macintyre said cheerfully. "The Hawks have special learning circuits for hunting. They're more flexible than the watchbirds. They learn faster..." "All I know is that the Hawks are self-controlled. So were the watchbirds. Remote control would have been too slow, the argument went on. The idea was to get the watchbirds and get them fast. That meant no restricting circuits."
 (Hawk from 'Watchbird' by Robert Sheckley) "We can dope something out," Macintyre said uncertainly. "You've got an aggressive machine up in the air now. A murder machine. Before that it was an anti-murder machine. Your next gadget will have to be even more self-sufficient, won't it?" |
| Technovelgy from Watchbird,
by Robert Sheckley. Published by Galaxy in 1953 Additional resources -
|
The Hawks were designed as an anti-watchbird weapon:
The watchbird was operating erratically now. Many of its delicate parts were out of line, worn by almost continuous operation...
Simultaneously, it became aware of something overhead. The watchbird wheeled to meet it.
There was a sharp crackle and a power bolt whizzed by the watchbird's wing. Angrily, it spat a shock wave.
The attacker was heavily insulated. Again it spat at the watchbird. This time, a bolt smashed through a wing. The watchbird darted away, but the attacker went after it in a burst of speed, throwing out more crackling power. .
The watchbird fell...
(Hawk from 'Watchbird' by Robert Sheckley)
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Watchbird
More Ideas
and Technology by Robert Sheckley
Tech news articles related to Watchbird
Tech news articles related to works by Robert Sheckley
Hawk Anti-Drone-related
news articles:
- Iron Drone Raider Counter-UAV Operations
| Worm Disrupts Physics Simulations Undetected For A Decade |
| Moscow Attacked By Hundreds Of Drones |
| China's Handheld Electromagnetic Gun |
| Is The Seattle Ultrasonics C-200 A Heinlein Vibroblade? |
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