An MQ-1B Predator unmanned aerial vehicle watched as three insurgents appeared to be planting a homemade bomb along a road near Balad Air Base, Iraq, Tuesday. When their motives were confirmed, the UAV launched an AGM-114 Hellfire missile against the group.
The Predator monitored the three insurgents for about a half hour, while they used a pickax to dig a hole in the road. The three then placed what appeared to be an explosive round into the hole, and they then strung wires from the hole to a ditch on the side of the road.
When it was clear the individuals were placing a bomb, the Predator launched the 100-pound Hellfire missile, killing all three insurgents.
“This is a prime example of how airpower is supporting the fight on the ground,” said Brig. Gen. Frank Gorenc, commander of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Balad. “We’re able to provide a persistent view of the battlefield to commanders on the ground and, if called upon, put a weapon on a target within minutes.”
Source and more info: aero-news
The U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force are both looking to buy the same new UAV from Predator manufacturer General Atomics. As a result of that joint interest, the two services are looking for ways to save money by combining maintenance and support efforts. What they won’t be able to combine are operational aspects, because the two services will operate the new “Warrior” UAV in different ways, to reflect the different objectives of the two services.
General Atomics, the manufacturer of the Predator UAV, is developing a replacement for the army’s current long range UAV, the RQ-5 Hunter. The result of this is the new Warrior UAV, which won’t enter service until the end of the decade. The army has ordered 121 Warriors (11 squadrons, with 12 UAVs each), at a cost of about $8 million each (including ground equipment). The Warrior will weigh 1.5 tons, carry 300 pounds of sensors internally, and up to 500 pounds of sensors or weapons externally. It will have an endurance of up to 36 hours and a top speed of 270 kilometers an hour. Warrior will have a wingspan 56 feet and be 28 feet long. The Warrior is very similar in weight, size and capability to the Predator. Basically, it’s “Predator Lite”, and that’s why the air force is interested.
Source and more info: strategypage
An unmanned aerial vehicle crashed this morning in Iraq, and combined operations continued in Salah ah Din province as part of Operation Swarmer.
A pilot at Creech Air Force Base, Nev. , was piloting an Air Force MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, based with the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron at Balad Air Base, Iraq, when the aircraft crashed. Army and Air Force personnel recovered the wreckage and returned it to Balad Air Base.
The MQ-1 Predator is a medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV system. Its primary mission is interdiction and armed reconnaissance. Each Predator costs about $5 million.
An interim safety investigation board president has been appointed and will conduct an investigation, officials said.
In other news, Operation Swarmer continues in central Salah ah Din province today, as Iraqi security forces and coalition forces, began their sixth day of combined operations today. Participating units include 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, and 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.
Source and more info: theconservativevoice
The Pakistan army has finalised an order from Germany for the EMT LUNA short-range battlefield reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition UAV, according to the Jane’s Defence Weekly.
Three or four systems are likely to be obtained in total, it said adding that details were not yet known.
Pakistan Air force is acquiring from Italy the Galileo Falco medium-altitude endurance tactical UAV, with delivery due in December. Four systems are involved in the deal at an unknown cost, the report said.
These systems are intended to enhance monitoring of border areas, with the movement of armed groups across frontiers with Afghanistan and Jammu and Kashmir causing particular concern.
The UAVs may also be used in Pakistan’s campaign against militants operating in its tribal areas: the mountainous region adjacent to Afghanistan where over 80,000 troops are currently deployed.
The European system appears to offer an alternative to the US systems originally envisaged.
Pakistan sought to buy the RQ-1A Predator or other UAVs from the US in 2002 but the recent selection of European UAVs suggests that the US is as yet unwilling to provide the required export licenses.
General Atomics has awarded a design and development contract for a new weapons carriage-and-release system for the MQ-9 Predator drone.
The MQ-9 is the “hunter-killer” version of the Predator and has become a lethal part of the arsenal used by U.S. troops in their ongoing campaign against al-Qaida and other insurgent groups in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, is designed to cruise for long periods of time at altitudes up to 50,000 feet. The Predator allows operators on the ground to get a real-time look at a target area and launch either a large bomb or a precision-guided missile on the unsuspecting target.
At the same time, the aircraft must also carry bomb and missile payloads; internal capacity is 800 pounds but external carrying capacity goes up to 3,000 pounds.
“The Predator is clearly an important focus of future defense capabilities,” said EDO CEO James M. Smith. “We are very pleased to be working with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems to solve the engineering challenges needed to provide improved weapons carriage and release capabilities for Predator B.”
EDO is based in New York while General Atomics builds the Predator in San Diego and currently plans to turn out more than 100 of the UAVs.
Source and more info: upi
While the U.S. Air Force has had great success with its Predator UAVs, the U.S. Army has done even better with its smaller RQ-7B Shadow. The 350 pound UAV can stay in the air for up to 6.7 hours (5 for the “A” model). In nearly three years of use, Shadow’s in Iraq have flown some 40,000 hours, and about 10,000 sorties. The Shadow A UAVs have been averaging about a hundred hours in the air each month. The B model does about 120 hours a month. The brigades use the Shadow for everything from assisting offensive operations (including raids), to patrolling roads looking for IEDs, to watching areas where enemy activity is expected.
Source and more info: Strategy Page
The U.S. Air Force has bought another five MQ-9 Predator B UAVs, for $8.3 million each. The original Predator cost $4.5 million each. The “B” model has less endurance (24 hours compared to 40 hours for the A model), but carries more munitions (1.7 tons). Weapons carried include Hellfire missiles, and 250 or 500 pound smart bombs. Typically, the Predator B will go into action carrying 16 Hellfire missiles. The Predator B is meant to be a hunter-killer UAV. It will go into action looking for targets it can immediately attack. The Predator B has been undergoing tests in combat zones for over five years.
Source: Strategy Page
