Un manned aerial vehicles

[Sailor]

On 1 May 2007, the 432d Wing of the United States Air Force was activated to operate MQ-9 Reaper as well as MQ-1 Predator UAVs at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. The pilots are expected to fly combat mission in Iraq and Afghanistan in the summer of 2007.
As of October 2007 the USAF is flying operational missions in Afghanistan.
As of 6 March 2008, according to USAF Lieutenant General Gary North, the Reaper has attacked 16 targets in Afghanistan using 500-lb bombs and Hellfire missiles. On 4 February 2008 the Reaper dropped a bomb on a truck carrying an insurgent mortar and team near Kandahar.
On July 17, 2008, the Air Force began flying Reaper missions within Iraq from Balad Air Base.
It was reported on August 11, 2008 that the 174th Fighter Wing of the USAF will consist of nothing but Reapers.

If the purpose of this post Yusef is to try and say that my post is old news, I don't care. You see, you aren't the only member here and if it is old news to you there are others who don't know about it.
Your addition to me bringing it to the attention of the forum is of assistance to anyone wanting information on the subject.

 

[nitesh]

Realted threads merged.

 

[Sailor]

Thanks Nitesh. I'd like to do some more on UAVs, as it is the future of any modern military.

 

[Sailor]

THE awesome technology of the GLOBAL HAWK

The RQ-4A Global Hawk is the Air Force's endurance drone, able to cruise at around 400 mph for 35 hours. It has an operational ceiling of 65,000 feet, and from this altitude it can scan an area the size of Illinois (40,000 nautical square miles) in just 24 hours. It is equipped with radar and infrared, as well as optical sensors.

Photo: U.S. Air Force

The Global Hawk, which has a wingspan of 116 feet (35.3 meters) and is 44 feet (13.4 meters) long, can range as far as 12,000 nautical miles, at altitudes up to 65,000 feet (19,812 meters), flying at speeds approaching 340 knots (about 400 mph) for as long as 35 hours. During a typical mission, the aircraft can fly 1,200 miles to an area of interest and remain on station for 24 hours. Its cloud-penetrating, Synthetic Aperture Radar/Ground Moving Target Indicator, electro-optical and infrared sensors can image an area the size of Illinois (40,000 nautical square miles) in just 24 hours. Through satellite and ground systems, the imagery can be relayed in near-real-time to battlefield commanders.

When fully-fueled for flight, Global Hawk weighs approximately 25,600 pounds (11,612 kilograms). More than half the UAV's components are constructed of lightweight, high-strength composite materials, including its wings, wing fairings, empennage, engine cover, engine intake and three radomes. Its main fuselage is standard aluminum, semi-monocoque construction.

 

[Yusuf]

If the purpose of this post Yusef is to try and say that my post is old news, I don't care. You see, you aren't the only member here and if it is old news to you there are others who don't know about it.
Your addition to me bringing it to the attention of the forum is of assistance to anyone wanting information on the subject.

No mate you got me wrong. Before the threads were merged, your post said the Taliban need to watch out as the Reaper is coming. I just wanted to point out that it's already there kicking ass.

The Global hawk is a recon UAV. Is it going to be weaponized? I read somewhere that Australia had set sights on it and intended to use it in tandem with the P8.
I also read somewhere about a British UAV program of similar size. I forget it's name. Do you have any info on that?

 

[Sailor]

OK mate sorry. See you tomorrow Yusuf.

 

[Yusuf]

No problem mate. Good night

 

[Shiny Capstar]

I am looking out for the BAE Taranis myself mainly.
The Predator C also looks, well deadly. It should be a suitable stop gap.

We all know of the brilliant and invaluable work that UAV's do these days, they are saving our troops lives and helping bring swift death to our enemies. They are, put simply, amazing.

The future role that UCAV's will have in our warfighting also interests me a lot, there are a lot of projects going on to create stealth UCAV's. Some of them even autonomous, for those of us that can afford them they shall allow us to break apart the most advanced air defences with much fewer losses, as well as providing other essential strike, support etc missions with very little risk to human life on our side.
The future is exciting gentlemen, that is for sure.

 

[VayuSena1]

No one is interested in what the bloody US Navy does in the twenty first century. Is this because developing nations are still miles behind?

My dear man, your flaunts of being a developed country and we being miles away are not really impressive considering that the entire NATO is finding it hell to face a group of primitive Soviet era terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Considering the dimensions of your Western countries's sophistications, you should have ended this terrorism already. One is considered a victor not by the sophistication of equipments he possesses but rather how he makes his ways to win a war. Therefore, I would suggest you to tone down your eagerness of expecting a reply too soon.

It is interesting to see the US Navy has entered into this field. However, from what I checked a few months back, even the French air force are having something similar to this for their UCAV project. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Sailor]

Look everyone Vayusena has come out of his tank to speak.
I really think that a 'think tank guru' should be able to instigate really interesting posts of his own if he tried instead of criticizing other member's posts and their countries.

I had a look back through your 85 posts to see if there was anything of quality, but alas after going back 30 I still couldn't find one that you started yourself.
Why not start one today?

 

[Sailor]

The Snow Goose

The CQ-10 Snow Goose is a parafoil-wing UAV for carrying medical equipment or other urgent supplies to Special Forces operating in unfriendly territory. The flexible wings are made of textile, like a parachute. The Snow Goose can be launched from the ground or from the loading ramp of a transport aircraft. Range and payload are inversely proportional; the CQ-10 can carry a 75-pound payload for 200 miles, or 500 pounds for a shorter distance depending on launch altitude and wind speed.

 

[nitesh]

One more impressive addition:

Lockheed Martin to develop geostationary Solar Powered Airship

 

[nitesh]

Look everyone Vayusena has come out of his tank to speak.
I really think that a 'think tank guru' should be able to instigate really interesting posts of his own if he tried instead of criticizing other member's posts and their countries.

I had a look back through your 85 posts to see if there was anything of quality, but alas after going back 30 I still couldn't find one that you started yourself.
Why not start one today?

What he said is correct, wars are not won only with equipments.

No personal attacks please.

 

[Yusuf]

Bae herti

The BAE Systems HERTI is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by the British company BAE Systems. HERTI stands for "High Endurance Rapid Technology Insertion" and was developed in Warton, United Kingdom. The HERTI airframe is based on a motor glider designed by Jaroslaw Janowski of J&AS Aero Design, Poland.Its first flight was in December 2004 at the Australian Woomera test range where much of the test flight programme has been undertaken. HERTI was also the first and so far only UAV to have flown in the UK with the flight being certified by the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority.
The first vehicles had a maximum take-off weight of 450 kg and a payload of about 150 kg. However the first production example will, according to Flight International, weigh about 750 kg. The first production example will be delivered by Slingsby Aviation to BAE Systems at the end of November 2007. The endurance of the production variant is up to 20 hours.
An armed version, the BAE Fury, was announced in 2008.

 

[Yusuf]

BAE Taranis

The BAE Systems Taranis is a British demonstrator programme for Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) technology. It is part of the UK's Strategic Unmanned Air Vehicle (Experimental) programme (SUAV[E]). BAE describes Taranis's role in this context as following: "This £124m four year programme is part of the UK Government’s Strategic Unmanned Air Vehicle Experiment (SUAVE) and will result in a UCAV demonstrator with fully integrated autonomous systems and low observable features." Taranis is the Celtic god of thunder.

Taranis is led by BAE Systems and also involves Rolls-Royce, GE Aviation Systems, QinetiQ and the Ministry of Defence.BAE Systems has overall design leadership as well as providing stealth technology, flight testing and control equipment. QinetiQ is responsible for UCAV flight autonomy and GE Aviation Systems provides electrical subsystems. The aircraft will use a Rolls-Royce Adour MK951 turbofan.
BAE Systems said "Taranis will make use of at least 10 years of research and development into low observables, systems integration, control infrastructure and full autonomy. It follows the completion of risk reduction activities to ensure the mix of technologies, materials and systems used are robust enough for the 'next logical step'."These "risk reduction activities" were related BAE programmes including Replica, Nightjar I, Nightjar II, Kestrel, Corax, Raven and HERTI. BAE Systems Australia will have a workshare of about 5% in the programme. The Taranis demonstrator will have an MTOW of about 8,000 kilograms and be of a similar size to the BAE Hawk. The first steel was cut in September 2007 and assembly began in February 2008. Ground testing will start in early 2009 and the first flight of the Taranis is planned for the first quarter of 2010.On the 9th of January 2009 the MoD denied the Taranis had been flying near the site of a smashed wind turbine, after local people claimed to have seen a UFO.
The demonstrator will have two internal weapons bays. With the inclusion of "full autonomy" the intention is thus for this platform to be able to "think for itself" for a large part of the mission.
The development of UAVs was a key part of the UK's Defence Industrial Strategy announced in December 2005, particularly the ability of the UK to maintain its "sovereign" aircraft and UAV/UCAV skills.

 

[Yusuf]

Ive been looking for information on UCAVs and found one thing in common in all of them. All designs are of the flying wing concept and all looking to incorporate stealth. MiG SKAT is one, also read of an Indian UCAV program that too will have similar design. The Terranis,X-35 all are wing desing similar to the B-2.

 

[Sailor]

Highest flying UAV

HELIOS was NASA's record-breaking solar-powered flight demonstrator. It achieved an altitude of more than 96,000 feet -- the highest for any aircraft not powered by a rocket. A combination of solar cells and fuel cells meant it could, in principle; stay aloft for days, weeks or even months at a time.
The vehicle broke up in 2003 during a flight near Hawaii when it hit turbulence, but the military is rumored to be continuing research into solar-powered UAVs with ultra-long endurance (vehicles capable of many hours in flight).
Photo: NASA

 

[Sailor]

The Toughest

The Battlehog 150 of these are intended to meet the Marine Corps requirement for a vertical takeoff drone capable of operating from aircraft carriers. It can fly at over 300 mph with a payload of 500 pounds, with armaments likely to include Hellfire missiles, rocket pods and 7.62-mm mini-guns. The Battlehog series is designed to be as robust as possible, being able to withstand small-arms fire from close range. The drone is steered entirely by moving the two wingtip fans, so there are no vulnerable flight controls.
Image: American Dynamics Flight Systems Wingspan

 

[nitesh]

'Phantom Ray' to Revive Boeing's X-45C Unmanned Combat Aircraft

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] is reviving the X-45 unmanned aerial system to be used for testing and demonstration of advanced unmanned air system technologies, under a company funded research program code-named 'Phantom Ray'. First flight of the Phantom Ray is expected in December 2010.

The completion of the Phantom Ray demonstration tests are scheduled to complete before the beginning of carrier suitability tests of a parralel Navy program - the X-47B developed by Northrop Grumman's (below). Under the Phantom Ray technology demonstration program the unmanned aircraft will conduct 10 flights over a period of approximately six months, supporting missions that may include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, suppression of enemy air defenses, electronic attack, hunter/killer, and autonomous aerial refueling.

 

[nitesh]

Boeing Targets $10 Billion Market for Leased Drones (Update2) - Bloomberg.com

May 11 (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co., the second-largest U.S. defense contractor, is leasing drones to government agencies and militaries seeking to bypass years-long purchasing processes, a market the company says may grow to $10 billion in a decade.

Boeing won contracts in 2007 and 2008 for a total of $312.7 million to supply the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps with ScanEagle spy drones on a fee-for-service basis and got a $250 million contract from the U.S. Special Operations Command on similar terms last month. Under the deals, Boeing owns the equipment and sends the operators where the military wants them.