Posted on 06/09/2016 4:58:08 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
India has formally asked the United States for Predator C Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs), a leading defence journal says.
Reliable sources told India Strategic that the Predator C requirement has been mentioned at a very high level during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s just-concluded visit to Washington. Now that India is getting into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), President Barack Obama will ask the State and Defense Departments to consider the Indian request.
Predator C is made by General Atomics Aeronautical System Inc. (GA-ASI), which has already offered an unarmed version, Predator XP, to the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Navy for reconnaissance purposes.
The number of drones required by India is not known but the UCAV, also known as Avenger, will be operated by the Indian Air Force which, in any case, is also short of manned combat jets. In the troubled terror-infested environment around India, a combination of manned and unmanned precision strike aircraft and systems is an immediate necessity.
The IAF had, in fact, asked the Ministry of Defence for strike drones – or UCAVs – at least six or seven years ago.
Avenger is a further development of the MQ 9 Reaper, which is extensively used by the US CIA to neutralise terrorists with precision strikes and minimum collateral damage.
Avenger has a turboprop engine, some stealth features, a highly sophisticated Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) for reconnaissance and targeting and can carry air-to-ground missiles like the Hellfire. It can be controlled from anywhere in the world through satellite connectivity.
Notably, although a strike drone like the Predator C has no onboard pilot, its operation requires a couple of people at the control station to monitor the target area and then to command the machine to shoot after due verification.
Kaboom!
The End.
The article has a typo, indicating this has a “turboprop”. Instead, this is the first Predator with a turbofan.
It has a max speed of 460 MPH, much faster than other Predators. They are also much stealthier than other versions.
As far as I know, the US government has so far not made a large buy of these. There’s a somewhat chilling promotional video on uTube showing networked flocks of these working very effectively together. These could be legitimate area denial air-to-air drones.
I guess that the lack of USAF interest “raises” export prospects in one sense.
Did you read the last two paragraphs of your linked article?
Ironically, if the Air Force does follow the Navy’s lead and acquires the same new drone that the sailing branch does, the Air Force could wind up with … the Avenger.That'd be pretty funny all right.General Atomics has modified the basic Predator C airframe to be compatible with aircraft carriers and has entered the resulting Sea Avenger into the Navy’s competition.
It sound like the main sticking point for the AF is how robust the Avenger's airframe is, which seems like an odd concern for a stealth drone. Comm problems can be addressed easily enough with block upgrades.
Truthfully, I think the AF is concerned with drones intruding too much on the manned fighter aircraft sacred cow.
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