Posted on 02/15/2008 5:27:11 AM PST by Travis McGee
Fifteen hour flights, huh? If the flight crew is sitting in the US, it makes it much easier to swap crews for rest breaks, etc.
These are terrific for fighting insurgents, guerrillas and terrorists. That’s great, they give us a huge “overmatch” edge in our war on islamic terror.
But if our own govt ever turns tyrant, forcing socialism, gun control etc on a largely unwilling nation, then these drones could be a fearsome tool against freedom.
For example, if and when “unauthorized meetings of groups of ten or more unrelated persons” would be forbidden, these killer drones would be just the ticket to keep an iron fist hovering above any potential meetings of patriots.
Not only in the USA, of course. In Russia, China etc they would help contain or stamp out “anti-government forces.”
Plus, they are “priced right” for tin pot dictators like Chavez, etc.
Just rotate drones on station. Four two person flight crews could keep a pair of these over a target 24/7. Other crews maintain the off-duty drone. These would have been great in Viet Nam.
That would be a pretty tough task.
The Predators must be guided by a secure line of sight link that would be tough to break and would require a transmitter in the area of operation that could easily be detected. For long range operation they likely use secure satellite guidance which would I suppose be vulnerable but I really don't see the Chinese or anyone else being able to capture that control link.
And I would assume that these UAVs have some sort of default behaviour that would automatically return them to base if there was any failure or interference with the command and control link.
Just guessing here but it seems logical to me.
Given the amount of time these things can remain airborne, I assume they would have zero problems reaching any point in Iran.
If we ever get into fighting a 'first-world adversary' then we've already lost. We're already full-up armed for Armaggeddon, thankyouverymuch.
Back in 84 I heard the 4-star commander of Air Force Systems Command talk to a bunch of whiney F-15 pilots about unmanned aircraft and fighters that would cruise supersonic at military power. Judging from their comments, they thought he was completely full of BS.
Everyone present at that meeting, including me, is retired now, but the reality General Marsh spoke of is finally here.
That’s true!
I demand a congressional investigation on why the military is using steroids to increase the power of its predators! That makes it unfair to non-steriod using predators and other militaries that can not afford to buy steriods for its predators.
“Predator on steroids,”
Don’t tell Congress, about the steroids, they’ll start new hearings and kill the project.
Again, if it gets to that in America, then it's already too late, no matter what the weapons of the military.
Wouldn't you agree that of any group, Freepers would comprise a larger percentage of such 'patriots' than the general population?
And just how many of those patriots would find each other if the government simply shut down the internet for a month? Zilch. Maybe one gun group in Houston, that's it.
As advanced as Americans THINK they are with respect to defenders of liberty, etc...we've got NOTHING on the word-of-mouth cohesion of 'primitives' in Sudan, etc.
We don't have the mere basics to defend liberty. Like an instinct to rally to the defense of Waco, for example. It didn't matter what kind of nutso Koresh was. Real liberty lovers would've surrounded the place and freed the children first, opposed the 'lightly armed' government forces.
Sorry. But with this standing Army, THEY are either with us opposing the government with the government bought weapons, or we are their subjects. Period.
me want!!! Please, me want for Christmas or Birthday!!!
Apparently, flight time is key to getting promotions in the Air Force.
Does anyone know if they have changed that policy?
I'm sure any pilot would prefer to actually fly the jets. How resistant are pilots to signing up for 'flying' these new UAVs.
I wonder who this PR BS is aimed at. The A-10 was designed as a ground attack plane, the F-16 was designed for air-to-air combat. The physical description of this drone is closer to the low and slow of the A-10, and the wings, which determine how well it does in low and slow, match the long and narrow of the A-10, not the short, wide wing of the F-16.
This is part of the No War in Space meme from the Russky/China axis....they want to disarm the US until they can takeover the Space War leadership.
He was FLOORED. “The Americans are training their youth in computer assisted warfare! No wonder they didn’t want me to see!” he thought. Then he heard a different sound, the sound of a quarter falling into a slot, and he realized it wasn’t a conspiracy to train our youth in computer assisted warfare, it was a conspiracy to separate a 15 year old from his quarters. At that point he realized Communism was doomed.
And having U.S. soldiers who already know how to drive a car, fly a flight simulator, shoot a gun, and operate a joystick; have been an invaluable aid to our war readiness for generations.
I’m not aware one way or the other whether UAV pilots log flight time for their efforts. I do know that some UAV pilots are enlisted. In fact the USAF actively recruits video game enthusiasts for such duty.
As to your comment about flight time being key to promotion, it is true that officers who are “rated” such as pilots, navigators and flight surgeons are more likely to get promotions to O-3 through O-5. Non-rated officer aircrew such as Combat controllers and air traffic controllers are also more likely to be promoted. Missile crew duty is a better ticket than for example finance, supply, or personnel.
Being a “Zoomie” or USAFA graduate is an excellent ticket as is in-residence attendance at Squadron Officers School, Air Command and Staff College and Air War College.
As far as early promotion to O-5 or O-6, I speak from personal experience that it’s all a matter of getting the right assignment at the right time. Superior performance in a command role is essential.
10 crews, 24/7: 24*7/10 = 30.8 hrs/week in the hot seat, and home to dinner every day.
Now that is the way to deploy to war.
I like it.
You can bet that the Israelis will use a weapon like the Reaper to attack Iran. Actually, I look forward to the time when the Reaper goes supersonic, pilots in prison camps are a bad memory, and prospective pilots can get their jollies flying biwings at local carnivals.
Brian McNamee has already testified he injected HGH into the fantail of one.
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