The US military has fielded a series of UAV's (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) that makes one think of futuristic wars and years in the future. But they are here and now.
The Army is training with and beginning to use a new UAV called the "Raven".
You have to love the high tech launch system !!
The Raven is a small lightweight UAV. While the Raven looks deceptively like a remote-controlled hobby plane it is actually a high-tech device that can provide real-time footage or still images of the battlefield. The 10-day training program was conducted in Nangarhar province Oct. 5-15, 2007.
“It is a great tool,” said Army Spc. Sean M. Noel, an infantryman from Company C, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, speaking of the Raven. “Before we go out to hit an objective, we can look at [the imaging.] To have this ability, it saves lives basically. We know what we are going up against.”
The training course consisted of both classroom time and time spent outdoors flying the Raven.
“In the morning time we try to do classroom, where we do ‘death by PowerPoint’,” said Army Cpl. Erick J. Rodas, the 173rd Airborne Brigade master trainer for the Raven. “I try to liven it up by making after lunch strictly field site.” You have to love the frankness of the Cpl. Death by PowerPoint. I'll have to remembr that one.
Then thre is the other end of the UAV spectrum the MQ9 reaper.
Check out that load of weapons.
The photo shows the Hunter-Killer UAVReaper which is basically a predator on steroids. Fully loaded, this UAV can take out a small country’s defenses before the rest of the crew move in. The Reaper UAV used to be known as the Predator 2 or Predator B. The armament of the UAV which has a maximum ceiling of 50,000 ft include Hellfire missiles and laser guided bombs. In fact, this beast can carry over 14 Hellfire Missiles compared to 2 on the original predator. The Reaper can also remain airborne for up to 14 flight hours. Basically, the original Predator provided a testbed for this UAV technology. Once it was proven that a Predator could accurately fire hellfire missiles, it was decided that a larger version should be produced that would increase the UAV capabilities. At about the same size as an A-10 Thunderbolt, the Reaper is almost twice the size as the orginial Predator. Likewise, high-altitude and long-endurance features were added such as de-icers for the wings and a more powerful turboprop. Basically, this thing is the wave of the future.
Then there is the Predator.
Which is a lot like the Reaper but serves more as an observation platform than anything else. This you don't have to be much of a pilot to fly thee technological monsters? Check out the cockpit of the Predator:
Well wars are being fouht more and more by remote control, keeping the pilots out of harms way, when one of these are shot down, you lose the plane, but not the pilot.