That link is an interesting read. His back-of-the-envelope calculation normalizes a Boeing 747 to just slightly less efficient than the Grey-Cheeked Thrush: 4.79 watts to 4.5. He's right that no one would want to fly an airliner at 31mph, however 1 or 2 people flapping to work at 31mph could someday be highly attractive over driving a car.

So is it better to wait to the end of the recall period to get more mature software that better debugged? Or would it be the same version as was rushed out at the beginning?

There could also be forcing functions that eliminates "strands" from the "rope" before reproduction...

"National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (as enacted into law by Public Law 106-398; 114 Stat. 1654A-38) that, by 2015, one-third of operational ground combat vehicles be unmanned."

I'm guessing they won't all be logistical delivery vehicles.

I'm working a very fast cargo transport UAV for DoD that, after cargo delivery to the soldiers, has enough capacity to hold several people. It will have no pilot or joystick, rather flying blind like a cruise missile to its next waypoint.

Now tell me that if you are combat wounded or reacting to a poisonous snake bite, you'd rather wait for medical treatment via the next piloted lift dispatched once/or if it's safe enough for them? I predict MASH-style evacuations will happen sooner than later.

Ships are but one end-point solution. To experiment first with the spray/seeding concept, there are plenty of fixed (arid islands, reefs, and other out-of-the-way) locations that could receive excessive salt spray to actually prove out the viability of the concept first.