Robot air attack squadron bound for Iraq

Yahoo ^

[Sub-Driver]

Robot air attack squadron bound for Iraq

By CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special Correspondent 30 minutes ago

The airplane is the size of a jet fighter, powered by a turboprop engine, able to fly at 300 mph and reach 50,000 feet. It's outfitted with infrared, laser and radar targeting, and with a ton and a half of guided bombs and missiles.

The Reaper is loaded, but there's no one on board. Its pilot, as it bombs targets in Iraq, will sit at a video console 7,000 miles away in Nevada.

The arrival of these outsized U.S. "hunter-killer" drones, in aviation history's first robot attack squadron, will be a watershed moment even in an Iraq that has seen too many innovative ways to hunt and kill.

That moment, one the Air Force will likely low-key, is expected "soon," says the regional U.S. air commander. How soon? "We're still working that," Lt. Gen. Gary North said in an interview.

The Reaper's first combat deployment is expected in Afghanistan, and senior Air Force officers estimate it will land in Iraq sometime between this fall and next spring. They look forward to it.

"With more Reapers, I could send manned airplanes home," North said.

The Associated Press has learned that the Air Force is building a 400,000-square-foot expansion of the concrete ramp area now used for Predator drones here at Balad, the biggest U.S. air base in Iraq, 50 miles north of Baghdad. That new staging area could be turned over to Reapers.

It's another sign that the Air Force is planning for an extended stay in Iraq, supporting Iraqi government forces in any continuing conflict, even if U.S. ground troops are drawn down in the coming years.

[csvset]

Here's a pic of one with the Blue Oyster Cult logo photoshopped on.

[Bender2]

RE:

This thread is worthless... without my pic!

I beg... your pardon!

This thread is worthless... without MY pic!

Get your own... alter-ego!

Might I suggest... Oh, say that sissy C3P0!

Can he say that, R2D2?

!¸.·´¯)¸.·´¯) *øø¤º°°º¤ø... ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,* (¯´·.¸(¯´·.!

Oh, he can... 'cause it is his post.

Then sign us up on Free Republic... and I'll give him the devil in over six million forms of communication!

Come on, girly'bot... I got my gaydar up and running!

Is is so sad... when robots fall out...

[mutley]

LOL! Movies like that were from the days when people were easily entertained. I loved them at the time.

I wonder why they gave that robot a sphinx style headress?

[PA Engineer]

Uh Oh!

[eekitsagreek]

They will be closing shop as they have been informed there'll be NO NEW manned combat aircraft.

Does that mean our future pilots will be those who have logged thousands of hours playing flight simulator games on Xbox, Sony PlayStation, on the pc, etc.?

If that is the case, my dream of flying for the Navy may still come true for me! Perhaps now my lousy vision won't matter to recruiters!

[Blue State Insurgent]

“Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult.

[wastedyears]

That looks like a nice toy? How much?

[operation clinton cleanup]

Here's a pic of one with the Blue Oyster Cult logo photoshopped on.

LOL! Perfect!

[badpacifist]

Robot Air Attack Squadron Bound for Iraq IRAN

[Hoplite]

I apologize for nothing!

[Grateful One]

Need much smaller versions that can sneak into the men’s rooms in the Parliment building in Tehran and similar places.

[csvset]

From the article..

General Atomics of San Diego has built at least nine of the MQ-9s thus far, at a cost of $69 million per set of four aircraft, with ground equipment.

[Starwolf]

Which does not jibe with the USAF pulling out of JUCAS, moving the next MANNED bomber in by 10 years

Then again, our brethren in blue were always a little schizoid

[Bender2]

Re: I apologize for nothing!

Gad! Just as I expected... You are too damned lazy to post your own pic!

Well, here... it is.

Now, shape up... or ship out!

BTW Psssst? Hoplite, don't mean to intrude... but might I suggest you use a hoplite as you alter-ego?

Such as...

http://www.christybeall.com/images/greek_small.jpg

No way, Dr. Z... Hoplite wants authenticity.

Like this... with both his hop and his lite hanging out!

http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/Sterile/Images/hoplite.jpg

Gadzooks... I just love this place!

[El Gato]

Plus 15 or 20-G turns in air combat or to evade a SAM are a lot easier when the pilot isn't there to complain that his neck just snapped.

Not with this one, you'd snap the wings off.

And it's slow, meat for anyone with real fighter planes, and not real maneuverable like the A-10 is. No Gun either. The Syrians and Iranians have real fighters for instance.

Still this is "just" a modified surveillance drone. The next generation will be able to do those things.

[El Gato]

I wonder why they gave that robot a sphinx style headress?

Probably a heat sink for the electronic "brain".

[El Gato]

Need much smaller versions that can sneak into the men’s rooms in the Parliment building in Tehran and similar places.

Those are coming too. They can be disguised as a large insect, so no one in *those* heads would give it second look.

[Southack]

"They will be closing shop as they have been informed there'll be NO NEW manned combat aircraft."

The "air" in "aircraft" being the key...

Human pilots will move upstream to sub-orbital, then to orbital fighters. In the meantime, we'll see nations slug it out via swarms of thousands of UCAVs.

[LonePalm]

That's Don't Fear the FReeper.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Radix]