Don't these work better than tinfoil hats?
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| Tinfoil Alert: Global Hawk to Fly 1st Mission Over U.S. |
| 2006-11-20 |
| Black Helicopters? Pshaw... Wait'll the Zoomers get a load o' this... They've become a fixture in the skies over Iraq and Afghanistan, a new breed of unmanned aircraft operated with remote controls by "pilots" sitting in virtual cockpits many miles away. But the Air Force's Global Hawk has never flown a mission over the United States. That is set to change Monday, when the first Global Hawk is scheduled to land at Beale Air Force Base in northern California. "This landmark flight has historic implications since it's the first time a Global Hawk has not only flown from Beale, but anywhere in the United States on an official Air Combat Command mission," base spokesman Capt. Michael Andrews said in a statement. Beale-based pilots are flying the drones daily on combat missions in the Middle East, Andrews said. The planes are operated by four-person crews from virtual cockpits the size of shipping containers. The planes are designed to fly at high altitudes for 40 hour-missions covering as much as 10,000 miles, mostly providing aerial surveillance. The aircraft, which can cost more than $80 million each, can reach an altitude of 65,000 feet and send back high-resolution imagery. The Hawks are among a growing fleet of unmanned aircraft that also includes the missile-carrying Predators and five-pound Ravens that are small enough to be carried in soldiers' backpacks. Beale is to have seven Global Hawks by 2009. It is currently the only U.S. base with the drones. Eventually the Air Force's fleet will include 54 of the Global Hawks, but most will be based overseas. |
| Posted by:.com |
| #23 Watch and learn! |
| Posted by: Gary Powers 2006-11-20 20:09 |
| #22 $80 million each?! Wow I didn't realize how expensive it was! |
| Posted by: Jesing Ebbease3087 2006-11-20 19:39 |
| #21 Yeah, it turns out that tinfoil hats actually improve electromagnetic reception. Oh, the irony! |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2006-11-20 18:42 |
| #20 I'll bet they'll be seen over Dolphin Stadium in Feb 07! |
| Posted by: doc 2006-11-20 18:06 |
| #19 On the Effectiveness of Aluminium Foil Helmets: An Empirical Study |
| Posted by: SR-71 2006-11-20 16:59 |
| #18 #6: Don't these work better than tinfoil hats? They are certainly more durable, and you can hold onto them better when there is a strong wind so you're not as apt to lose it and go completely unprotected. However some radiation can get through the holes . . . |
| Posted by: John Fn Kerry 2006-11-20 16:41 |
| #17 Raj - It depends on the wavelength of the mind-control ray in question, relative to the aperture size of your colander. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2006-11-20 16:34 |
| #16 Can I use it for deer hunting? Maybe a couple mosque fly overs? |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2006-11-20 15:39 |
| #15 wxjames, the problem isn't building the control package, it is building the aircraft. Lockheed built a remote control / automatic version of the Raptor to demonstrate what could be done with robotics and remote control. Countries that can build Playstation 3's can make drones. However, designing and building state of the art fighter aircraft is a little tougher. When all is said and done, the avionics are the key to air supremacy. |
| Posted by: RWV 2006-11-20 15:32 |
| #14 I am 100 percent against unmaned combat aircraft. If we develope it, someone will steal it and then, their combat aircraft will be equal to ours. Let's keep the pilots working, and keep the robots slow and dumb. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-11-20 15:17 |
| #13 mojo, unfortunately not so, it just limits who can shoot at you to the guys who use really big bullets. |
| Posted by: RWV 2006-11-20 15:15 |
| #12 They could probably put 20 C-182's (including sensor package) with pilot & observer for what one of these things will cost True but they would need 20 C-182s to do what one Global Hawk could do. Too many major differences to list. 340 kts vs. 140 kts. 12,000 nm range to 1000 nm range. 65,000 ft. ceiling (above GA aircraft) vs. 18,000 ft. ceiling. etc. etc. etc. Not to mention payload. A 182 could only handle a portion of the surveillance equipment not to mention the ordnance. |
| Posted by: Intrinsicpilot 2006-11-20 15:13 |
| #11 I've allways advocated Police Apache Helicopters to deal with car crime. would make "police Stop" type shows more interesting. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles in Blairistan 2006-11-20 15:04 |
| #10 OP: As a reality check, until we get rid of the catch and release(tm), it actually won't protect our border. We'll just have video of them sneaking across. Now, if they're outfitted with hellfire missiles, that's a different ballgame...... |
| Posted by: BA 2006-11-20 14:54 |
| #9 At 65000 feet, NOBODY can see them. |
| Posted by: mojo 2006-11-20 14:53 |
| #8 I hope they're flying border-surveillance flights. I recommended this to the military some three years ago. We used to cover the trails and road systems in Southeast Asia with RF-4Cs and earlier aircraft. The Global Hawk and other recce drones are far better, have greater capability, and near-instantaneous datalink. It would go a long way toward sealing our southern border from infiltration, as well as helping us establish the links within the US. I wonder if my former boss, Colonel Bill, is running this show... |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2006-11-20 14:46 |
| #7 Throger Thains8048, yes, you probably could, but you couldn't perform the mission. C-182's would have a problem trying to get to 65,000 feet and it is very doubtful that the C-182 would survive very long in hostile airspace. Global Hawk is replacing the U-2 and TR-1 not Guardrail. Now there is considerable discussion about whether it might be cheaper to convert the existing U-2 fleet to UAVs than to bring on Global Hawk, but that sort of thing is normal. Big boy toys cost big bucks. |
| Posted by: RWV 2006-11-20 14:39 |
| #6 Don't these work better than tinfoil hats? |
| Posted by: Raj 2006-11-20 14:37 |
| #5 They could probably put 20 C-182's (including sensor package) with pilot & observer for what one of these things will cost. |
| Posted by: Throger Thains8048 2006-11-20 14:20 |
| #4 wait for the paranoid to latch onto the last sentence..."but most will be based overseas." not knowing HOW many or WHERE they will be deployed will drive them stark raving mad (der?).....HAHAHAHHA |
| Posted by: USN, ret. 2006-11-20 14:18 |
| #3 Better to have them orbit over jihadis rather than scaring the tin-foil hat wearing community. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles in Blairistan 2006-11-20 14:14 |
| #2 Have them orbit over San Francisco. 24 hours a day. And make sure everybody sees them. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-11-20 14:02 |
| #1 This is the beginning of the end to manned military flights. It won't be but another 20 years and everything except troop transport will be unmanned. I see this as a good thing. I wonder if the stick jockeys at Beal get flight pay? |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-11-20 13:43 |