Drones at the Battle of Gettysburg?

Just as the U.S. Navy was in the process of successfully landing its first drone on an aircraft carrier yesterday and possibly ushering in a new era of naval aviation and naval strategy*, Popular Science weighs in with an important question regarding this critical weapons system: What would have happened if Robert E. Lee and the Confederate army had had drones at the Battle of Gettysburg?

No, really.

This is reminiscent of the debate that went viral a few years ago about whether a U.S. Marine Expeditionary Unit could have defeated the entire Roman empire. If you are a military history geek, suspend your disbelief (and don't blurt out the easy answer that with modern technology the Civil War would have either looked like World War II or Operation Iraqi Freedom depending upon the balance of forces) and have fun with it. 


* For those more firmly planted in the real-world, Gordon Lubold and John Reed discuss some of the implications of automated, carrier-borne drones on ForeignPolicy.com.

Why yes, General Lee, that model of  Predator does come in gray . . .