General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: MEDIA A Drone Was Used to Blow up a US Citizen Without Trial On Thursday. Let That Sink In [View all]Perhaps it is, but from a strictly technical point of view I doubt armed UAVs will ever be employed against citizens located within the United States.
It was my understanding the only reason we use them overseas is because we don't have "boots on the ground" that can get remotely close to the targets (for a multitude of political, legal and tactical reasons). In addition, the places we fly them typically have anti-aircraft rockets which would expose our pilots to danger; that's definitely not the case here in the US.
Lastly, they're just not that great at precision targeting in population dense areas; it's not uncommon at all to read about "collateral damage" in drone strikes. We haven't seen police adopt precision air-strikes against civilians using traditional aircraft, and I doubt we'll see them employ armed UAVs ever.