MEDIA MESS UPS

[Rudi]

They are so clueless. Their new term in Ukraine is "suicide drone" or "Kamikaze drone". IDIOTS! These are just another type of guided weapon. I so loath the media.

 

[bigmtnman]

Yep... When I first heard those terms it was like fingernails scraping on the blackboard.

 

[LVSteve]

Actually, this distinction seems to have been started by the Western military. They wish to separate "guided weapons" from "suicide drones" in their minds and those of politicians. Guided weapons are supposed to sleek, sexy, go fast and deliver a big bang.

Suicide drones are derided as cheap and nasty, using commercially available bits repurposed as weapons. They are usually piston powered but can be battery powered over short ranges. They are used in asymmetric warfare and are therefore reviled by the real military. Funny old thing, they can kill you just as dead as a $1million guided weapon.

Iran have cleverly built their weapons to fit the gap in between. The Shahed series are cheap and piston powered, but were developed as weapons from the git-go. They don't go fast or carry a big warhead, but they have a nuisance and PR value way bigger than their capabilities as measured by the Western militaries.

 

[WCCPHD]

The main stream media's mantra: Don't have to be right, only have to be first.

I so tire of the local TV station's "Breaking news." This means they have no idea about what is going on, but that never stops them from incessant babbling about nothing.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Often, the proper industry nomenclature assigned to specific technical hardware is meaningless to the general population. While the defense industry groups the hardware as "Loitering Munitions", it's a good bet that the average American couldn't decipher that phrase, hence "Suicide Drone" connotes the mission in a manner decipherable to all.


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[LVSteve]

Often, the proper industry nomenclature assigned to specific technical hardware is meaningless to the general population. While the defense industry groups the hardware as "Loitering Munitions", it's a good bet that the average American couldn't decipher that phrase, hence "Suicide Drone" connotes the mission in a manner decipherable to all.


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Even then there is a distinction. "Loitering Munitions" are supposed to fly around an area either looking for a target with its own sensors or waiting to be told where to go by a datalink. Suicide drones are usually given a set of GPS coordinates to fly to then dive on whatever is there, kind of a V-1 with GPS.

 

[Rudi]

So stupid, machines can't commit suicide, blather, blather, blah, lie. When all else fails, just make it up.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Suicide drones are usually given a set of GPS coordinates to fly to then dive on whatever is there, kind of a V-1 with GPS.

Or a Cruise Missile.




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[GaryS]

It doesn't matter what the media calls them, they are very real threat.

Iran is selling them to the Russians and Iran's puppet Hezbollah is deploying them against Israel.

I haven't heard of them deployed against the US forces in Syria, but it's likely to happen soon.

Iran will likely sell them to other terrorist organizations and nations in the near future. It's only a matter of time before they are used against western nations in some capacity.

 

[LVSteve]

Or a Cruise Missile.




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Indeed, but it's like I said, our military insists on making a distinction between something costing $1million per shot that requires specialists, training, and convincing Congress to pay for it, versus something "slapped together" using a 3-D printer, the GPS chip from a cellphone, and assembled by a self-taught teenager in a bombed out basement. The optics of calling a Shahed a cruise missile don't work for our military or our politicians that vote to fund them.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Just Googled "Switchblade 600", which is the tank busting Loitering Munitions, designed and manufactured by AeroVironment Inc., by request of the U.S. government.
Their own web page uses the dreaded suicide/kamikaze terminology.

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[bullmack]

Do we not have better things to fret over???????

 

[The Last Standing Knight]

Always remember this about the media:

They can't tell the difference between a S&W Model 28 four inch and a Glock 17.

 

[UncleEd]

Sadly, some critics of the media blame
them for using terminology that is
commonly used on the battlefield.

 

[DWalt]

The Iranian whatchamacallits are supposed to be Shahed- 136, 200 lb warhead. Further details are to be found on Wikipedia if anyone is interested.

 

[LVSteve]

The Iranian whatchamacallits are supposed to be Shahed- 136, 200 lb warhead. Further details are to be found on Wikipedia if anyone is interested.

200 lb total weight with an 88 lb warhead.

 

[Beemerguy53]

One of my pet peeves is the ignorance of so many news reporters.

Every time I hear the term "fair share" with regard to tax policies, I want to scream...what exactly does that mean? It's very catchy and alliterative, but just what does it mean?

The other day a local television station, in an online report, noted that a suspect used a "semi-automatic handgun"...whatever happened to the word "pistol"?

Reporting on a small plane crash, the news report said the student took off at too steep an angle, "causing the engine to stall"...

Oh, well...at least the Baltimore Sun has stopped reporting that the city's police are carrying "Glock service revolvers"...guess I should be thankful for something...

 

[Tom S.]

So stupid, machines can't commit suicide, blather, blather, blah, lie. When all else fails, just make it up.

But.. but.. but... everyone knows the Terminator committed suicide to save Sara Conner!

 

[Greyman50]

FWIW, Stalin was right," useful idiots"…..

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

" Kamikaze" has such melodramatic connotations, like many such words it is used and misused until the original meaning is forgotten. And attributed to "The Bad Guys", sounds more sinister than "cruise missile".