(US Air Force) Bomb-laden (grim) 'Reaper' drones bound for Iraq

[UpInArms]

Source: USAToday

BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AP) — The airplane is the size of a jet fighter, powered by a turboprop engine, able to fly at 300 mph and reach 50,000 feet. It is outfitted with infrared, laser and radar targeting, and with a ton and a half of guided bombs and missiles.

The Reaper is loaded, but there is no one on board. Its pilot, as it bombs targets in Iraq, will sit at a video console 7,000 miles away in Nevada.

The arrival of these outsized U.S. "hunter-killer" drones, in aviation history's first robot attack squadron, will be a watershed moment even in an Iraq that has seen too many innovative ways to hunt and kill.

That moment, one the Air Force will likely low-key, is expected "soon," says the regional U.S. air commander. How soon? "We're still working that," Lt. Gen. Gary North said in an interview.

The Reaper's first combat deployment is expected in Afghanistan, and senior Air Force officers estimate it will land in Iraq sometime between this fall and next spring. They look forward to it.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-07-15-reaper_N.htm

[SKKY]

1. Just the fact that they're planning well into next spring...

...should to some extent indicate just what Bush is going to tell the Democrats when, in September, they try and pull the plug on this thing.

[Horus Krupkey]

4. Planet of the apes

There is no going back.

Unless the hair-trigger ICBMS in Russia firing mechanisms rust into the on position "by accident" and NORAD responds via Dr. Strangelove's football, there will be CLONE ARMIES before 2020.

That's regardless of which GOP party is in the WH.

There is only one way other than GTNW to STOP the INSANITY that's instant 123 voting that would put Kucinich or his heir in charge of the DEPT of PEACE.

It's the DINO DLC GOP nature to fulfill the prophecy of 1000 points of light NEW WORLD ORDER, even if it extinguishes all life on the planet in the process.

If you think that's poppycock, I suggest you read Helen Caldicott's take on the matter.

AAR http://www.airamerica.com/thetimeisnow/node/166
Mp3 http://podcast.rbn.com/airam/airam/download/archive/2007/07/aatn071407.mp3 ( 2B updated in ~ 72 hrs )
or http://www.airamerica.com/premium/podcasts.php?type=free

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_st/105-2155289-2242051?rs=1000&page=1&rh=n%3A1000%2Cp_27%3AHelen+Caldicott&sort=daterank&x=12&y=12

[bananas]

7. "2B updated in ~ 72 hrs" would be wednesday?

Thanks!

[Horus Krupkey]

13. Caldicott audio by your command comrade ...

They don't specify, but that's my best guess for an outside date.

If you go AAR premium you may be able to get it sooner.

Also, she made another appearance on the show that may in fact be the original recording date.

here are wma's at:

http://www.airamerica.com/thetimeisnow/node/53/11#main-content

Here's a 15 min seg from last night AAR_TN-Caldicott-2007-07-14.mp3 ( 1.68mb )

BTW:

The INVINCIBLE DINO DLC GOP mutually assured destruction GTNW attitude was reflected in 007 GoldenEye:




http://www.moviedeaths.com/goldeneye/boris_grishenko/

[hack89]

6. Even if they pull the plug on it in September ..

it will take months to pull all that material and personnel out of Iraq safely.

[rodeodance]

2. Air power is the name of game over there lately----they had cut back for

a while, but i have read lots of stories of this.


I can not imagine what the country looks like as a whole------busted homes, bridges, roads-----all blown to heck (and people with the raids).

[Why Syzygy]

3. What is this?

A test tube??? Next fall and spring?

[DemoTex]

5. The asymmetry grows .. by quantum leaps.

And Emperor Bu$h complains about the cowardice of IEDs and suicide bombers. I hate to be the one to tell the Emperor, but all of the whiz-bang technology in the world will not win this war. Get some clothes, boy.

[madrchsod]

8. hunt and kill an idea?

they still do not have a clue

[Barrett808]

9. They should just send Ellen Muth:

[alfredo]

10. It doesn't look too different than the Predator

Remember, every anti personnel weapon they develop can be used against us.

[BrotherBuzz]

19. The Reaper is four times heavier and can fly twice as fast and twice as high as the Predator.

:shrug:

[alfredo]

21. I wonder if this is an extension of Paul MacCready's work

in the 70's and 80's.

I had a friend who worked with his Daedalus team. They were doing work with radio controlled craft as well.

[BrotherBuzz]

22. It sure as hell doesn't use any of Colonel John Boyd's theories on military tactics

or even the E-M Theory

Reduced to its basics, Boyd's work hinged on thrust and drag ratios. * * * The E-M Theory, at its simplest, is a method to determine the specific energy rate of an aircraft. * * * In an equation, specific energy rate is denoted by "Ps". The state of any aircraft in any flight regime can be defined with Boyd's simple equation: Ps = *V or thrust minus draft over weight multiplied by velocity.

I can't help but wonder if the armchair pilots operating this new system were recruited directly out of the video game parlors in the malls. Oh, and to further the ruse, the Air Force installed dummy token slots on the side of the console. :shrug:

[alfredo]

25. Actually the drone operator I mentioned was a

cellist and amateur cyclist. The cycling helped him attain the world record for human powered flight. He didn't hold it long


I believe he flew this plane a few times.

[BrotherBuzz]

26. Paul MacCready is of one school

The other school are the modelers. I have a friend (incidentally an avid cyclist) who competes in radio controlled glider competitions. He's damn good and manages to keep his glider up for hours while he chases it in a vehicle over the coastal mountain ranges. Maps in one hand, and his black box with the antenna in the other, while his driver tears over the fire roads at a break-neck speeds. He has to keep a line of sight for radio control, and admits he often has trouble seeing his ten foot bird, but he KNOWS exactly where it is on the map; impressive skills. Just think what he could do with one that had computer assisted control coupled with Sat-nav communication; over the horizon control; over the ocean control.

[alfredo]

28. It is troubling that someday we will be able to destroy an enemy without

seeing the blood, smell the rot, or hear the screams and cries.

[donkeyotay]

32. And to think the founding fathers were worried about a standing army

In neo-American The Reverend Dick Cheney will be the founding father. The man who helped unleash the privatized military without a debate. The man who helped bring us to this state of war where the complete dehumanization of killing is not even worthy of news. I trust these fellows, the people who've brought us this disaster, will be completely upstanding in their conduct. I'm sure there'll be no bad apples, and that everyone will remember at all times that the death and destructions they rain down on people will be just and proportionate at all time.

I don't think there's an emoticon for what I'm feeling right now.

[alfredo]

33. You forgot to say Amen.

[Baclava]

31. That's one big-ass Predator

[Forkboy]

11. "What's G12 do, Tommy?"

[SlavesandBulldozers]

16. RIP Bill. n/t

[MilesColtrane]

12. "(US Air Force) Bomb-laden (grim) 'Reaper' drones bound for Iraq"

Obviously there's a typo in that headline. Shouldn't there be an "n" instead of a "q" at the end?

[acmavm]

14. Amazing. War via long distance. Not even the so-called (amongst

the warrior type) justification of looking the enemy in the eye anymore. As is said so often here on DU:

JUST KILL 'EM ALL, AND LET GOD SORT 'EM OUT!

:sarcasm:

[ckramer]

15. Killing without emotion involved

nothing better than that.

To quote MMoore, what have we become as a country?

[DavidMS]

17. Intresting weapon system but not too usefull

You still need infantry on the ground to spot targets. It just provides a cheaper bomb truck. If infantry (or armor) does not spot the targets, its likely to mostly kill civilians. No one has yet bombed an insurrection into submition.

They are also SAM-bait. Since any half-decent opponent can (theoretically) get fire control solutions from passively receiving the signal. No one will peg them with MANPADS but I am guessing that all sorts of old and cheap AD missiles will take them down.

[hack89]

18. Not really ..

It has a full sensor suite for both day and night operations. It can find its own targets.

[DavidMS]

20. But those sensors aren't as good as a man on the ground

Are the cars fleeing the fighting filled with scared families or moving to bring reinforcements?

Can they tell the difference between householders with rifles and insurgents with rifles?

No sensor can detect that yet.

[hack89]

23. No, but

it can detect men digging IEDs on main roads. It can detect mortar and rocket teams. When supporting combat ops it can detect ambushes.

[Nihil]

27. You've skipped a track.

> Are the cars fleeing the fighting filled with scared families or moving
> to bring reinforcements?
>
> Can they tell the difference between householders with rifles and
> insurgents with rifles?

You're right that "no sensor can detect that yet" but the point you've
skipped over is that there is no difference in reaction to the two cases.

Past behaviour has shown that the US forces simply don't care which
type of car it is or who is carrying the rifles (friend, foe, indeterminate),
they just shoot it up and either claim a victory or cover the mistake up.

Why waste money on even smarter sensors when the end result is the same?

[DavidMS]

34. One would hope that cooler and wiser heads ran conflicts

But I forgot that we are dealing with the "bomb them all and let God sort them out" crowd.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter_insurgency

Seeming indiscriminate attacks against civilians only thrusts them into the hands of the insurgents.

[slowry]

24. U.S.armored bomb-laden n/t

[Javaman]

29. Yeah...Iran, whoops, I mean Iraq...nope, I was right the first time. nt

[HonorTheConstitution]

30. What an embarressment for a country priding itself of human values and liberty...

...BushCo can commit resources in building the perfect killing machine but cannot fight poverty in our country.

Soon illegals will be forced to work in factories to build these, or they get deported. Welcome 21th Nazies