[SandRat]

FR WAR NEWS!

WAR News at Home and Abroad You'll Hear Nowhere Else!

All the News the MSM refuses to use!

Or if they do report it, without the anti-War Agenda Spin!

Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.

[papasmurf]

Pictures! I need pictures. LOL

[txzman]

“Ahmad, I don’t like video games.....”

[SevenMinusOne]

MQ-9A Reaper - Keep’em coming - Great asset for our boots on the ground -

[maine-iac7]

neutralizing enemy combatants.

What a lovely phrase -

[Haddit]

who fly the aircraft remotely from Creech Air Force Base, Nev. The pilot released two GBU-12 500-pound laser-guided bombs, destroying the target and eliminating the enemy fighters.

I’d hate to see that in my rear view mirror.

[sinanju]

The MQ-9 Reaper is the Air Force’s first hunter-killer UAV. It is larger and more powerful than the MQ-1 Predator and is designed to go after time-sensitive targets with persistence and precision, and destroy or disable those targets with 500-pound bombs and Hellfire missiles.

“The Reaper represents a significant evolution in UAV technology and employment,” General Moseley said. “We’ve moved from using UAVs primarily in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance roles before Operation Iraqi Freedom, to a true hunter-killer role with the Reaper.”

General Moseley stressed the key advantage is not keeping manned aircraft and pilots out of harm’s way, but the persistence UAVs can inherently provide. The Reaper can stay airborne for up to 14 hours fully loaded.

A 900-horsepower turbo-prop engine, compared to the 119-horsepower Predator engine, powers the aircraft. It has a 64-foot wingspan and carries more than 15 times the ordnance of the Predator, flying almost three times the Predator’s cruise speed.

The Air Force has seven MQ-9 Reapers in its inventory, with a full-rate production decision expected in 2009.

________________________________________________________________

So the MQ-9 is the first true purpose-designed hunter-killer UAV. I especially take note of the 14-hour station-keeping ability. Talk about having a million bucks in life insurance circling overhead when you go out on patrol!

[maine-iac7]

Sure wish that baby was flying over the Korengal Valley in the Kunar Province where the 173rd Airborne - Battle Co, is...

They just now trained to use this little guy - The Raven Unmanned Aerial Vehicle - so that probably means they wont be seeing it's big brother any day soon = during Aug - Sept, they were under fire every single day but 3 ---

[BallyBill]

Big Boys use Big Toys.

BooM!

[shield]

WOW

[bert]

The Duke would be proud. One of his great movies involves Marines learning how to coordinate and execute close air support.

The movie was an attempt to show the folks how the combat arms can work together and benefit from cooperation. It was also probably meant to influnce some stodgy nay saying brass.

Just imagine using airplanes piloted in Nevada dropping bombs on a pacific island. Does not compute.

[hsalaw]

"The beauty of the MQ-9 Reaper is that we're able to synchronize and integrate unmanned aerial attack platforms over the skies of Afghanistan, allowing us to persistently and consistently track the enemy and ensure that we place the appropriate ordnance on target when required, and maintain that persistent presence after weapons release,"

Lovely language. Translation: kills 'em dead.

[timer]

Perhaps Musharraf is trying to negotiate a monthly rental contract on these birds right now...

[rbosque]

Frick’n sweet!

[null and void]

Shoulda named it Azrael...

[Mike Darancette]

Man that must be like the wrath of Allah for the poor mooks on the receiving end.

[Free Vulcan]

Now we’ll be ready for the Decepticons when they come back in the second Transformers movie.