This is the place where the majority of the warbird (aircraft that have survived military service) discussions will take place. Specialized forums may be added in the new future
Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:16 pm
from today's paper....the usaf is deploying the u.a.v."reaper" an upsized cousin to the the predator u.a.v. which has been operational since 1995 to iraq. the reaper is roughly the size of an a-10 warthog, 300 miles per hour speed, all the electronics, 50 thousand feet altitude, a ton & 1/2 ordinance carrying capability, 14 hour air loiter time. this is aviation history's 1st robot attack squadron!!!! the mission........ strictly hunt & kill. the reaper is 5 tons gross weight, 4 times heavier than the predator. 36 ft long, 66 foot wingspan. the predator carries 2 hellfire missiles. the reaper packs 14 air to ground weapons, or 4 hellfires & 2 500 lb bombs. operations will be done by computer 7000 miles away in nevada. the brits are also buying the reaper but only for aerial recon. the usaf officially established the 432nd wing on may 1st, & will operate 60 reapers & 160 predators.. this establishment & deployment will give the usaf the opportunity to send pilots home to their families & keep them out of harm's way. the predator flies at 140 mph, the 300 mph speed will enable the reaper to get it to hot areas faster, thus saving countless ground forces lives as well. our tax dollars aren't being all quandered, this thing will save countless u.s. troop lives.
Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:41 pm
Robot? Hardly...
Just like with the RQ-1 Pred, there is a regular old pilot sitting at the controls (albeit 6,000 miles away) flying the Reaper and pushing the big red button to drop the ordnance.
So, it is certainly "unmanned" in that there's not a pilot physically sitting in it...but it's not some artificial intelligence out there doing the hunting and killing on its own.
The Reaper is actually the "Predator B", a turboprop Predator that General Atomics has been trying to sell for a number of years.
Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:10 pm
Looks great for ground attack but would be eaten alive by an opposing Air Force.
Shay
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Semper Fortis
Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:19 pm
if they had an air force!
Tue Jul 17, 2007 11:57 am
Robot? Hardly.
Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:30 pm
Shay wrote:Looks great for ground attack but would be eaten alive by an opposing Air Force.
Shay
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Semper Fortis
Destroy the enemy's air defense and C3 with standoff precision weapons first, establish air superiority, and then send in the Reaper.
"Seasons don't fear the reaper
Nor do the wind, the sun, or the rain..."
But the bad guys sure should!
Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:03 pm
But can it find Sarah Connor?
Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:16 pm
hey........ why the gang bang???? i'm only conveying what was in the local paper!!!!
Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:26 pm
I've always wondered with the inevitable oncoming of UAVs for more intense combat roles what steps are being taken to prevent "Spoofing"
It always seemed to me that the UAV's achilles heal would be it's TX/RX components.
Flood the airspace with a high wattage transmitter and obliterate the UAV's signals and you have a dead bird in the air ready to be shot down.
You can encrypt your transmissions all you want but if someone blanks out your area with noise then it won't matter.
Food for thought when they claim the F-35 and the AH-1Z will be the last manned direct combat vehicles.
Shay
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Semper Fortis
Tue Jul 17, 2007 2:45 pm
In this case you would just set an autopilot to take over, reverse course and fly the old heading home. When radio transmissions resume the ground crew can take the plane over again.
Tue Jul 17, 2007 2:51 pm
muddyboots wrote:In this case you would just set an autopilot to take over, reverse course and fly the old heading home. When radio transmissions resume the ground crew can take the plane over again.
essentially neutering their effect everytime UAVs entered the area of operations.
You would need self autonomous UAVs (which, not to be paranoid, could be dangerous in their own right) or manned aircraft to take out the tranmitter sites ala Wild Weasels. Or ground forces
Shay
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Semper Fortis
Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:55 pm
Shay wrote:Flood the airspace with a high wattage transmitter and obliterate the UAV's signals and you have a dead bird in the air ready to be shot down.
You can encrypt your transmissions all you want but if someone blanks out your area with noise then it won't matter.
Without getting into TOO many specifics, do you have any idea how much wattage it would take to jam ALL the possible frequencies that a UAV uses to fly and transmit data
over a large enough area to make a difference?
And, oh, by the way...if you've jammed ALL the freqs, what do you expect 'friendly' forces to use for command and control??
Hint: if they could do it currently, they would.
Noise jamming is a pretty low-tech and easily defeated technique.
Tue Jul 17, 2007 10:10 pm
Randy Haskin wrote:Shay wrote:Flood the airspace with a high wattage transmitter and obliterate the UAV's signals and you have a dead bird in the air ready to be shot down.
You can encrypt your transmissions all you want but if someone blanks out your area with noise then it won't matter.
Without getting into TOO many specifics, do you have any idea how much wattage it would take to jam ALL the possible frequencies that a UAV uses to fly and transmit data
over a large enough area to make a difference?
And, oh, by the way...if you've jammed ALL the freqs, what do you expect 'friendly' forces to use for command and control??
Hint: if they could do it currently, they would.
Noise jamming is a pretty low-tech and easily defeated technique.

Now it sounds like a James Bond villian!
Tue Jul 17, 2007 10:15 pm
Noise jamming is a pretty low-tech and easily defeated technique.
My mother-in-law used it all the time
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