Predator Notches another al Qaida

efreedomnews.com ^ | 11/5/2002 | efreedomnews

[efnwriter]

efreedomnews         WAR ON TERRORISM - AN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE

Predator Notches another al Qaida
November 5, 2002
efreedomnews.com

The hottest gunslinger in the US Military corral is the Air Force's Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Tasked by Gen. John P. Jumper, commander of the Air Force Air Combat Command  to "demonstrate a weaponized UAV" with the ability to "find a target, then eliminate it," the Predator has proven its worth again this week in the War on Terrorism.

Qaed Senyan al-Harthi, al Qaida's main man in Yemen, was eliminated by the Predator's Hellfire Missile,  as he was tracked in a car traveling across the desert in the Marib area of northwest Yemen along with five of his associates.

Also known as Abu Ali, al-Harthi was behind the USS Cole bombing in Yemen in October 2000. Reuters reported: "Al-Harthi was the senior al Qaeda representative in Yemen and among the top dozen al Qaeda leaders worldwide."
 

"Not So Safe Anymore"

The tribal area called Marib, 100 miles east of the capital, San'a, is in the same region where bin Laden's father was born. The tribal ruled region is a known al Qaida "safe-haven" - not so safe anymore. In September, 2002, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld made the landmark decision to put US Special Forces Command (SOCOM) in charge of international anti-terrorism operations. [SOCOM Unleashed: Special Forces Take Lead in Terror War]

Our finest warriors - Navy Seals, Green Berets, Delta Force, - under command of Air Force Gen. Charles R. Holland, along with CIA paramilitary units, are tasked with direct responsibility for covert action against al-Qaida and other international terrorist groups.

In light of that responsibility more than 500 Special Operations troops were posted to our east African ally Djibouti along with the USS Belleau Wood, an amphibious assault ship with attack helicopters and Harrier jump jets along with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
 

The USS Nassau transited the Red Sea this week with a contingent of some 2,200 Marines, relieving an the Belleau Wood amphibious ready group.

 

Rumsfeld's decision just came to fruition with this strike against al Qaida.

President Bush's comment:

"The only way to treat them is what they are - international killers. And the only way to find them is to be patient, and steadfast, and hunt them down. And the United States of America is doing just that," President George W. Bush said. "We're in it for the long haul."

[Travis McGee]

You gotta love it! I hope that somewhere in the bowels of the Pentagon or up the river at CIA someone is archiving "Predator Hellfire Camera Greatest Hits," so that we can see it all on the history channel in a few years.

[patton]

"Quantity has a quality all its own."

[Travis McGee]

Imagine how 100s of FLIR camera equipped drones (and thousands of distractive dummies) could have altered the outcome of the VN war.

No air crew POWs to capture and bait more airplanes and helos into rescue-ambush range, just Hellfire missiles coming at you!

NVA and VC river and trail traffic at night by more than small squads would have been almost impossible I think.

[Vigilantcitizen]

"We should build ten dummy drones for every real Predator. They would cost only a few thou each, and just run circles on GPS, no sat link, no remote guidance. Very very cheap, and great psyops."

Great idea Travis. Maybe it would cause sadam to commit paranoia induced suicide.

[Travis McGee]

That's Napoleon isn't it?

I think he also said something like "the entire world will tremble when China awakens."

[Travis McGee]

Also useful in Somalia, Yemen, etc.

If the CIA is working on dummy drones, it will be classifed above top secret. We'll have to wait for the History Channel version, or until some ragheads capture one and film it on Al Jezeera.

[Squantos]

I watched today the news brief regarding the artillery projo that was knocked from the sky by a laser down at White Sands Missle Range in NM.

This and the CIA getting it's teeth back with counter terrorist teams and armed UCAV's for Non-CONUS operations is a good thing IMO ! Now if we can close the borders and pull the flush handle to rid ourselves of illegals and those practicing open sedition against us here in country I'd be a happy man :o)

Until they get it fixed I'll just assume responsibility for my own families safety with what I have at hand ...........

Stay Safe !

[river rat]

You have to wonder, if the kids flying those remote control death birds - still feel their hearts pounding in their chest as they search for, encounter, follow then attack the enemy. Just think about how calm, patient, focused and detached they can be --- because they are perfectly safe, miles and miles away!

What a tool! Plus, the open terrain and absence of jungle canopy -- give these birds a Killer Hawk's view of the world. There must be SF on the ground --- casing the joint, and maybe even painting the target for the Hellfire missle.. Or - does the Hellfire need a painted target???

Do you reckon that maybe it also has IR or some other "warm body" sensing gear -- that can be picked up from under light cover?

I would truely hate to be a grunt in 2002 - facing today's technology.....

It's no longer man to man.....it's man victimized by science....

Semper Fi

[Travis McGee]

I have no idea if the geeks "flying" these things feel anything much, since they are in zero danger. Even VN era flyboys, who avoided the mud etc, lived with the knowledge that a lucky "million dollar BB" could send them to a bamboo cage or worse. Not anymore.

The Predators use a combined high res video for day and FLIR together. It's very hard to hide your heat, almost impossible. It can only be done in earth bunkers etc, a poncho or blanket ro pretend you are a rock (which the Afghans used against Soviet helos) won't help.

The Predators of course need intell to know where to look and who to look for, but they don't need anyone to lase a target. They have their own on board. It's all done via sat data link remotely.

Like you said, it's going to be tough to be a guerrilla in the old sense any more. The only camouflage which will work will be UPS brown or gray pinstripes etc.

[Aquinasfan]

Hmmm... so close to Saudi Arabia.

On another note, being vaporized by an unmanned drone has to be demoralizing.

[Travis McGee]

I see the day coming all too soon when micro drones will patrol our backyards looking for pot plants or zoning violations.

(Such drones fly above sound and sight range, and are invisible to their targets; or alternately can hover outside your bedroom window peeping in.)

Evil politicians will have their own people direct them to "get something" on their enemies.

[Aquinasfan]

(The CIA should build thousands of cheap styrofoam fake Predators powered by lawn mower engines which would go on several day missions over Bagdad etc circling around on GPS controlled tracks, just to drive Saddam crazier.

Excellent idea.

[Bobby777]

many of those flying UAV's are real pilots ... not computer geeks ... and they're awfully unhappy about not being at the controls of a real plane ... this is the future of course and it's been a long time coming ... but I can understand the frustration of the military pilots ...

the military should hire a bunch of geeks for these things ... and let the pilots do the real stuff for other work ...

[SauronOfMordor]

For a long time I've been thinking that the next stage in development in land warfare will be patterned after how aircraft carriers replaced battleships on the sea.

Visualize vehicles that are the land-equivalent of carriers, launching small armed drones and controling them from 100 miles away from the heavy fighting

[SauronOfMordor]

I wonder if the military is working on the ability to launch and recover drones from the tail-ramp of a C-130. Now THAT would be cool. Flying aircraft carrier for drones

[Terriergal]

BULLSEYE!

Dear Al Qaeda...:

[r9etb]

We should build ten dummy drones for every real Predator. They would cost only a few thou each, and just run circles on GPS, no sat link, no remote guidance. Very very cheap, and great psyops.

And for not much more -- maybe another couple of thousand -- you could put reasonably good optics on 'em (good enough to spot tanks, say) and set up a common downlink or satellite link. Switch between 'em like security cameras in a store, and you've got psyops and utility.

And what the hell -- stick a couple of pounds of C4 onboard too, so that when they find some high-value target nearby they can give it some coordinates, and steer to it using GPS.

None of it's high-tech stuff. You could do pretty well, for not a lot.

[Bobby777]

they couldn't survive in the propwash of the C-130 ... it would flip 'em like burgers ... they used to recover drones into nets on Navy ships ... Kelly Johnson's D-21 made Mach 4 runs for recon through China (one never came out) but the recovery crews botched the camera package rescue and it sank ...

they'll have to fairly close for awhile ... the solar powered ones can fly for days but can't carry effective payloads yet ... I think the Hellfires weigh about 100lbs each or so (varies with model) ...

right now they make a good supplement to fighting these kinds of battles ... hunting for terrorists in Afghanistan and elsewhere ... much more practical than jets ... but there are a lot of crashes and the potential for mistakes is always there ...

with all of Saddam's doubles I'd be really surprised if we could nail the right guy with the drones ... and Saddam would order them all out into the open while he stayed in one of the deep underground bunkers ...

[r9etb]

There must be SF on the ground --- casing the joint, and maybe even painting the target for the Hellfire missle.. Or - does the Hellfire need a painted target???

If you see the target from the UAV, you can paint it from the UAV.

[r9etb]

I wonder if the military is working on the ability to launch and recover drones from the tail-ramp of a C-130. Now THAT would be cool. Flying aircraft carrier for drones.

Too much turbulence for them to fly in and land. Cable recovery and underwing mounting, OTOH.....