07/12/2009 11:29:30 AM PDT
· 20 of 25 Lunkker
to PapaBear3625
But a Tomahawk is used up in each mission, while a Predator can launch one or two Harpoon missiles, then return for reload/refuel.
The Harpoons are used up too. We're confusing the weapon with the launch platform.
I'm strictly a surface guy, but I have never heard of a Predator being outfitted with Harpoons, let alone two of the suckers! That would be a hell of a dramatic boost in their capabilities.
This is interesting because back in the days there was an anti-ship variant known as TASM. It was removed from the fleet in the mid-90s. It was *not* the same missile as the land-attack version. I can’t speak for the new one, but the old versions were not interchangeable; they were either anti-ship or land-attack variants.
A Tomahawk doesn’t cost a million dollars, has a greater range and is faster than a Predator. Each Predator requires a trained operator; a few people can launch dozens of Tomahawks. Tomahawks are launched from a ship’s Vertical Launching System or from a submarine, which you can’t do with a Predator. It’s radar cross-section is pretty small, and it would most likely be a sea-skimmer, so while anti-missile systems would be a threat, probably not much of one.
It looks to me like a bug crawling around on the lens, or on a housing enclosing the camera. It’s blurry because it’s close enough to be out of focus in the image. The story doesn’t say that anyone actually saw this “cloud” other than on the security camera, and the customer seems to be unaware of it.
10/23/2005 11:34:13 PM PDT
· 6 of 22 Lunkker
to neverdem
"That law, coupled with a government-sponsored gun buyback program, has reduced deaths from firearms by about 8 percent this year, the Health Ministry said."