Recognize the black silhouette under the MQ9?
Posted on 03/15/2023 10:04:20 PM PDT by Mount Athos
It's probably much bigger than you think.
It has a payload (explosives) of 3850 pounds, which can include multiple 500 pound laser guided bombs and 8 hellfire missiles.
It can fly up to 35 hours.
As of March 2021, the US Air Force has stated that the unit cost of an MQ-9 Reaper is $56.5 million, though I have read estimates that the true cost is closer to $100 million.
See picture below in first comment to see how big it is. It was flown with the transponder off.
“How big do you think the MQ-9 Reaper drone is?”
It might be slow and lightweight enough for an SU-27 to be able to blow it down with a vectored power blast from its exhaust.
But dump a load of fuel in it’s face and it’s going tits up
Yup... that’s what the Russians did to our drone.
Flew right up next to it and pissed on it.
Bigger than a breadbox?
Holy cow. I thought I was going to make the first smartass comment, but you beat me to it - verbatim.
Crazy Ivan!
My guess was roughly the size of a Cessna 172. Looks about right.
I doubt that.
They would have been able to glide as far as the glide ratio and altitude and skill of the remote pilot allowed, but with that prop damage the engine would not be making any power. To do so would have shaken it to pieces in short order due to the out of balance prop.
Looks kind of ‘stealthy’. Guess that doesn’t work against Russia these days. Wonder what the B2, F35, and F117A pilots think of it being hunted down so easily?
Please remove this picture from the internet. It fails the PC balance test. Thank you.
?
The interesting thing here is while we seem to be talking small wwll fighter this thing can remain aloft for 35 hours. Wonder how they worked that out?
Where’s the black lesbian and what are all those old white dudes doing there?
I think the total cost depends on the packages it is equipped with. I am sure the surveillance package is more expensive than a load of hellfires.
It likely did not have a transponder working when it was in its loitering race track pattern. But, it absolutely had its transponder working when it flew from its base to the station as it would have been crossing commercial air space.
And a transponder being turned off just makes it a big chink of metal in the air; it doesn’t make the profile disappear. Everyone with radar could see a profile—although it would be small. People tracking it would see it come in, turn off the transponder, and watch it loiter.
Recognize the black silhouette under the MQ9?
MSNBC finally has their Moscow Pee Tapes
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