Posted on 02/20/2007 4:49:09 PM PST by John Jorsett
The U.S. Air Force is moving rapidly to increase its force of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). In three years, it expects to have fifteen Predator squadrons. During that period it is buying 170 MQ-1 Predators, and up to 70 MQ-9 Reapers (or Predator B). While the Predator was a reconnaissance aircraft that could carry weapons (two Hellfire missiles, each weighing a hundred pounds), the Reaper was designed as a combat aircraft (it can carry two 500 pound smart bombs) that also does reconnaissance. The Reaper can carry GPS or laser guided bombs, as well as the 250 pound SDB, or Hellfire missiles. The Predators cost about $4.5 million each, while the Reaper goes for about $8.5 million. The Reaper can only stay in the air for up to 24 hours, versus 40 hours for the Predator. But experience has shown that few missions require even 24 hours endurance. For that reason, the air force decided not to give the Reaper an inflight refueling capability. The Reaper also carries sensors equal to those found in targeting pods like the Sniper XL or Litening, and flies at the same 20,000 foot altitude of most fighters using those pods. This makes the Reaper immune to most ground fire, and capable of seeing, and attacking, anything down there. All at one tenth of the price of a manned fighter aircraft. The air force expects to stop buying the Predator in four years, and switch over to the Reaper, and new designs still in development. Meanwhile, these UAVs use better and better software, that enables one pilot to control three or more aircraft. The sensor software alerts a human operator if anything of interest is spotted. Thus, while there are still people on the ground controlling these UAVs, more and more, the aircraft are operating by themselves.
The U.S. Navy, as well as Britain and Australia are buying Predators, and several other countries are considering. While there are many other UAVs of the same weight class (similar to a single engine prop driven civilian aircraft), the Predator has a combat record that no one else can match. This counts for a lot.
fascinating. bump for later reading.
Whole new meaning for "death from above". Gotta love it.
When will SkyNet become self-aware?
If it were my design, it would be using spread spectrum and directed-beam techniques to defeat jamming attempts. I have to assume that the actual designers did something like that.
This is the first thought I have every time I read or hear one of these stories. The new Battlestar Galactica is a very dark program as well. Sooner or later it's going to happen and the "I, Robot" rules aren't going to apply to the brave new world we are going to create.
Boeing X45.
Regards.
I keep telling anyone that will listen...
You want to make an invincible armed force? Put any robotic plane, combat machine, ship, tank, vehicle etc. in the hands of Xbox Live users that have mastered the training and competition on the equivilent video game.
Our couch warriors would be the most brutal, ruthless and skilled army of all time.
These will make building an effective jammer more difficult (larger? and more expensive), but not impossible. They are currently beyond the capabilities of those our military is most likely to be fighting. China would be another story, however, war with China is several years off, if that ever happens (hope and pray no war).
I suspect the Islamic War is the proving ground for systems that will be employed, probably sooner rather than later, in the wider World War that will involve Russia and China.Chinese and Russian systems will get their tests when the direct clash with Iran comes.
It's coming: http://deoxy.org/meme/RobotArmy
I worked on a program that used spread spectrum. We calculated that an effective jammer would require multi-megawatts of power to overwhelm our system. And if somebody had managed to come up with such a jammer, we'd have widened our band so that they'd have needed hundreds of megawatts. And that's assuming they could have detected us in the first place. Good SS signals hide among the noise. I'm not claiming that a capable adversary couldn't jam a UAV's signals, but I suspect it would be more reliable and cost-effective to send a fighter or missile up to destroy it.
I'm waiting for the Dominators to come on line. I can't wait to fill the skies over a city with hundreds or even thousands of cheap, disposable hunter-killers.
and will be easily corrupted if ruskies introduce them to a live woman
Unfortunately the X-45A (pictured) and its successor (J-UCAS) have been scrapped by the USAF to provide funds for F-22 and other pet rocks.
The USAF is yet to reconcile itself to large UAVs
Reaper.... that is a good name for such a angel of death. Happy hunting USA Reapers! I hope you speed many a bad guy on his quest of his dreamed of paradise.
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