Today, Etopia
News, in pursuit of answers to the intertwined questions of the UCLASS’s
capabilities and its status under a proposed ban on killer robots, sent out
e-mails to the four potential contractors for the UCLASS air vehicle segment,
asking them:
1.
Do you want the RFP for UCLASS to specify a
penetrating, stealthy, war-fighting configuration, or one focused on ISR?
2.
Is your company concerned that a high-end
capable UCLASS would run afoul of the proposed ban on “autonomous lethal
weapons systems” or “killer robots” being sought by the Campaign to Stop Killer
Robots, which is being administered by Human Rights Watch and about which you
can learn more at:
The one
sent to Lockheed Martin bounced, and the ones to Northrop Grumman and General
Atomics have not yet elicited a response, but Boeing wrote back, saying:
“Boeing
is competing for UCLASS, but due to the competitive nature of the program, we are
not prepared to discuss details of our work at this time. I can tell you
that Boeing will give the U.S. Navy an affordable UCLASS solution that
can provide a persistent Carrier Vessel Nuclear (CVN)-based Intelligence,
Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and strike capability supporting
24/7 carrier operational coverage. Boeing has more than 90 years of
naval aviation experience including delivering carrier based aircraft to
the U.S. Navy. Additionally, Boeing's capabilities-based approach and
rapid prototyping allows us to create an affordable, low-risk solution
for our customer.”
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