Skynet Goes Live in the UK

Posted 13 May 2007 at 14:31 UTC (updated 13 May 2007 at 14:45 UTC) by steve

When the British military developed hunter-killer UAVs knowns as MQ-9 Reapers, reminiscent of those seen in the Terminator series of movies, you knew it wouldn't be long. According to a UK government IT news site, Skynet has gone live with the launch of Skynet 5A, the first of three satellites that will make up the Skynet miltary communications network. Skynet 5B will be launched later this year and 5C in 2008. Skynet will be used to control the UK miltary at home and abroad. According to NORAD, the Skynet satellites are hardened against impacts and capable of repelling jamming attacks. And what about those flying hunter-killer robots? They carry 3,750 lbs of laser-guided missles, smart bombs, and JDAM munitions. The Register notes that several of those munitions have already been used to target individual humans. Don't forget to brush up on your surivial techniques. For more, see the Register's story on Skynet.

PR department on vacation, posted 15 May 2007 at 02:48 UTC by Rog-a-matic » (Master)

You would think the public relations team could dream up another name.

As far as I can tell it's just a communication system, and there is no decision making occurring on the satellites.

If Hollywood was producing sci-fi flicks in 1850, I'm sure they would have created a story about the dangerous future TELEPHONE SYSTEM :)