Forum: Drones

"Cameras on the 27-foot drones beamed back dramatic scenes from the heat of battle in the Shahikot region, notably the killing of a Navy SEAL commando. Never before had an extended battle by U.S. forces been piped into U.S. command centers around the globe in hour after hour of real-time video that made distant officials feel unusually close to the battlefield. And that was one of the problems, according to U.S. commanders here. In a review of the Predator's role in the biggest U.S. ground assault in a decade, Soldiers involved in the battle said the live video links gave them little useful information and were sometimes a distraction, encouraging higher-level military staffs to try to micromanage the fighting."
http://www.geocities.com/fscswheelsvstr ... awuavs.htm

I have two questions:

1. How effective is the UAV in present day combat situations?
2. With additional UAV projects on the drawing boards what will they do better for the money?

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It has proved to be EXTREMELY effective. However the comment above about it being a distraction is also true...many that have served in the CAOC have referred to the Predator video as "crack" due to its addictiveness.

Last week a reaper scored its first kill in Afghanistan. Good job, Pred!

Quote:

Air Force Times Staff report
Posted : Monday Oct 29, 2007 18:59:06 EDT

The Air Force’s use of remote-controlled aircraft passed another milestone Saturday with the first air strike flown by an MQ-9 Reaper, the service’s newest unmanned plane.

According to Central Air Forces, an MQ-9 fired a Hellfire missile at Afghanistan insurgents in the Deh Rawood region of the mountainous Oruzgan province. The strike was “successful,” CentAF said.

Based at Kandahar Air Field, Reapers have been flying over Afghanistan since Sept. 25. Like the smaller MQ-1 Predator, pilots and sensor operators in Nevada use satellite links to guide the planes on attack and reconnaissance sorties. A second set of deployed aviators control the planes’ take offs and landings.

The Reaper can carry up to 3,000 pounds of weapons while the MQ-1 is limited to 500 pounds of munitions.

Salute!

Roscoe and I prolly share the same misgivings about the new UAV's and their progeny USAF is calling UACV's or whatever.

Gums stands up on his soapbox for a minute:

We must never forget what combat is all about in terms of actual folks being blown to smithereens.

The yutes who have spent years "playing" video games might not fully appreciate what is going on with the UAV's.

No doubt, armed UAV's can make a huge difference in current and future combat.

As Roscoe said, the big problem is the near-real time video passed from 10,000 miles away thru a satellite or two to the "command authorities". Speed of light keeps this to maybe a second and a half, but close enuf for government work.

I flew in a war that had too much close supervision by the command authorities, and many historians and retired officers shall agree with me. Imagine what it would have been like with the stuff we have today?

As I step off of the soapbox, I leave this parting word to the powers that be:

"If you folks that have never been shot at, never risked your life, never held your buddy close to your breast as he bled out really know how to wage war and make all the crucial decisions using video-arcade images, then ...... Maybe we oughtta just get rid of the soldiers, seamen and airmen that actually bleed and die. You can just execute the "war" from your air-conditioned offices with your mouse or stick or whatever."

gotta log,

Lots of talk around OPS circles about being replaced by robots in the sky. So far it looks like high command is not buying into replacing the "carbon based units" just yet.

I would like to hear more from you guys about if robots (UAV) will in fact be the dominate force in 20 years?

Gums et al, I appreciate and understand the point of view of the human pilot. I've been working piloted acft for 21 years. Heck, some of my best friends are pilots...heh.

I also had my doubts about the UAVs/UCAVs...until I finished a short tour in Iraq recently. I was glued to the SIPERNET when my boss showed videos of Predators making martyrs of dumbass jihad mortar teams either getting ready to drop one in the tube or who had just dropped.
One in particular happened as the team was launching a mortar, I found out a SRA actually pulled the trigger to launch a Hellfire that vaporized three jackass insurgent "heros" who should have slept in that day. Maybe the video games are good training...I'm just happy he got the bastages.

The blinking lights of a UCAV is a welcome sight over Balad for sure and I was glad to see them all the time. "Mortaritaville" isn't quite as bad as it used to be.

Copy Gums.

"If, when in War there is no Glory,
All we are or were or can be is lost forever."

Forum: Drones

UAV the good the bad the ugly