Posted on 07/16/2007 7:41:35 PM PDT by blam
US targets al-Qa'eda with 'grim Reaper'
By Tim Shipman in Washington
Last Updated: 3:23am BST 17/07/2007
The world's first attack squadrons of unmanned aircraft are shortly to deploy in Iraq and Afghanistan to take the fight to al-Qa'eda.
A Reaper plane at the Creech Air Force base in Nevada. The unmanned aircraft will be used for attacks on insurgents
The menacingly named Reaper planes can carry up to a ton and a half of precision weapons for attacks on insurgents and terrorists - but the pilots of the "hunter killer" drones will be 7,000 miles away from their targets.
They will fly the Reapers using remote controls and video screens, similar to a computer flight simulator, from Creech Air Force base in Nevada.
An instantaneous satellite link will let them track insurgents on infrared cameras and launch attacks.
The US military and the CIA has long used unmanned drones for aerial surveillance work.
Predator "eye in the sky" aircraft have also been used in raids on al-Qa'eda targets.
But this is the first time that drones designed to launch attacks rather than provide intelligence have been deployed in force. The Reapers, which cost $17 million (£8.5 million) each, are the size of a conventional A-10 "tankbuster" aircraft and can carry up to 14 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles or four of the missiles and two 500lb bombs.
Lieut-Gen Gary North, the US air commander in the Middle East yesterday revealed that a squadron of Reapers will deploy "soon", first in Afghanistan, where additional combat air power is most needed and then, in the autumn, in Iraq.
"With more Reapers, I could send manned planes home," he said.
"It's going to bring us flexibility, range, speed and persistence, such that I will be able to work lots of areas for a long, long time."
The Reapers will give the US military a mobile attack force even if, as many in Washington are demanding, American troop strength on the ground is reduced next year. Sixty of the aircraft are to be deployed with the 432nd Wing of the US air force, but the exact details of how many will deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan remains classified.
• American aid designated for Pakistan's lawless tribal areas is in danger of falling into the hands of Islamic militants, according to a report published yesterday. America plans to pour $750 million of aid into Pakistan's tribal areas over the next five years as part of a "hearts and minds" campaign to win over this lawless region from al-Qa'eda and Taliban militants.
However, US officials are concerned that due to lack of close supervision aid money could find its way to militant groups, according to a report in The New York Times.
Let her go, Boys!
Reapers and nightly JSOC boots on the ground are the best short-term answer to the Pak border regions....
Can't compare to AC-130 Spectres, IMHO.
Although, why not both?
This is really foolhardy, the Al Qaeda Airforce will shoot them down like sitting ducks.....
...oh, yeah.......
Rise of the Machines.
Please... less “hearts and minds” and more “Blood and guts”
All of those countless hours of American children playing video games is finally going to pay off.
Welcome to the future you scumbags....A return to the 14th century is not an option!
Two words:
YA THINK?
buddy of mine is an XO of an MEU and laughs when he talks about some of the young bucks in choppers compared to the older chopper pilots. The younger ones he says play the XBOX, PC or playstation that the instrument panel and flying/operating by instruments is second nature. The older guys tended to "not trust" the instruments as much.
He's waiting for the first mutant pilot to come out with massive thumbs and index fingers...bwahahahahaha
For loitering on station (above boots on the ground) they Reapers certainly can.....And for stealth...
With that said, there is probably noting better then a Spectre overhead when the sh*t hits the fan and you're on the ground as part of it.
We should be using AC-130 far more efficiently (and in greater numbers) than we are.
And I'll agree with you - Reapers with a QRF Spectre on call over the Pak border regions would be just fine...
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