Flexrotor Pandora Test Flight

A test launch, flight and landing for a long range robotic aircraft the (sort of) utilizes a vertical take off and landing system, all be it a somewhat primitive one that requires a special landing and take off platform. Still, interesting project. Bigger than it looks in the video, seems to be about 4m wingspan. see: http://www.aerovelco.com/Flexrotor.html

 

It would be better if it could take off and land without the rig, it seems a bit low-tech to me.

 

I've been talking about that sort of thing recently with a friend, about terrorist using some kind of drone to attack somewhere, but then they could have done that for years now with an ordinary light plane in the microlight class. Seems a lot of the terrorists we face at the moment want to be more hands on, be there at the scene.

Or if you just mean as a general war machine for dropping bombs or gas, I guess it could. Radio controlled planes have been around since World War II though, so it could have been done for quite a while. I don't think cost is an issue for most war mongers, though perhaps having something small and more stealthy is useful. You'd still be limited on damage though because of the size and weight it can carry, though for recon they're perfect.