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| Iraq-Jordan |
| WARPLANES: US Army Gets It's Air Force Back, Without the Pesky Pilots |
| 2004-07-28 |
| The U.S. Army is completely sold on the usefulness of UAVs, and is rushing to buy as many of them as possible. Currently, the army mainly uses three models; the Raven, the Shadow 200, and Hunter. The most numerous one if the four pound Raven. By the end of the year, every combat division will have at least 25 Ravens. The Raven only stays in the air for an hour at a time, but with a range of about 15 kilometers and day and night cameras, it is very popular with combat commanders. One man can carry an entire Raven "unit" (two or three aircraft, a laptop PC with the control software and radio gear). The 1600 pound Hunters, which stay in the air 18 hours at a time are used by divisions and higher headquarters. The 330 pound Shadow 200 is used by brigades, and can stay in the air for six hours at a time. All of these systems are getting a workout in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that experience is being used to build the next generation of UAVs, which will begin to appear in a few years. In the meantime, the current ones are constantly upgraded to make them more capable and reliable. It was something as simple as cheap, reliable and high resolution digital video cameras that made all the difference, as well as effective ways to transmit the video to the aircraft controller, who could see the view on a laptop computer screen. Simple, effective, and combat commanders can't get enough of it. The U.S. Air Force, which has a monopoly on fixed wing aircraft (courtesy of a deal made with the army half a century ago), has not tried to stop the proliferation of army UAVs, even though these unmanned aircraft are doing work that, for years, air force aircraft did (or, as the army sees it, increasingly doesn't do.) |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #10 This years XBOX World Championships to be held in and around scenic Tehran! Get signed up now, kids! |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2004-07-28 5:22:53 PM |
| #9 Mr. Davis, that would be pure evil to have a swarm of those things coming your way. How many for the price of an A-10? Send in a squadron piloted by our best Nintendo nerds. :} |
| Posted by: Trub 2004-07-28 3:45:15 PM |
| #8 How about building one around a GAU-8 and calling it the UAV-10 and sending it on a tour of the Middle East? |
| Posted by: Mr. Davis 2004-07-28 3:29:33 PM |
| #7 The Raven is very cool. I've seen it in action and it is both hard to see and hear. There is only going to be more of this, both in the air and on the ground. |
| Posted by: remote man 2004-07-28 3:29:26 PM |
| #6 How about putting a bomb in one, and flying it into a group of terrorists? |
| Posted by: gromky 2004-07-28 3:22:41 PM |
| #5 It makes sense to have the Army controlling its own recon assets--shortens the path between the gatherer of information and its consumers. |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-07-28 2:22:33 PM |
| #4 Wait till the AF finds out about the USMC ICBM program. (Only used as a substitute for shore bombrdment of course) |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-07-28 2:13:35 PM |
| #3 "Bolos May Be Destroyed... But They Never Surrender." |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-07-28 2:05:27 PM |
| #2 I recall a while back seeing something here about D-9's being rigged for remote operation... LoR, we're closer than you think. I for one welcome our new mchanical overlords |
| Posted by: N Guard 2004-07-28 2:02:44 PM |
| #1 And we are one step closer one day reading in the news, "The Pentagon today refused to comment on the news that the first Bolos of the Dinochrome Brigade have reached the combat zone..." |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2004-07-28 12:53:42 PM |