UAVs

[pkober]

I never liked being beak to beak (or in my aiplanes case, round bulbus (sp.) nose) with those armed Predators on the taxiways in Afghanistan.

It's the wave of the future and it's gonna happen.

 

[hoover]

What kind of endurance does a UAV have? I assume you can't air refuel a remote flown vehicle.

 

[mzaharis]

Actually, people are working on autonomous aerial refuelling for UAVs.

http://www.afmc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123013012
http://stinet.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA455631
http://pdf.aiaa.org/preview/CDReadyMGNC05_1089/PV2005_5866.pdf

Still, a Global Hawk's listed endurance is 35 hours, an MQ-1 Predator is over 24 hours, and an MQ-9 Reaper (previously referred to as the Predator B) is 30+.

http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=175
http://www.ga-asi.com/products/predator_b.php
http://www.ga-asi.com/products/predator.php

 

[anotherF16pilot]

I can't wait to fly UAVs. That's going to be SO awesome! The on station time is unbelievable and the turn radius is phenominal. But I'll still use piddle packs 'cause that's just plain fun right there.

 

[AlbieF15]

I'd fly the darn things as a TG. My back won't let me fly F-15s, but if an over 40 O-5 can still help the war effort by training folks, monitoring the AOR, or schwacking the occasional vehicle then I'd be proud to serve.

Kill a raghead terrorist then stop and pick the kids up a barbie from Walmart on the way home from work. Yeah...I'd rather do BFM...but those days are gone. So how can I help?

 

[dtfl]

From dtfl's 2nd link:

As a general rule, we fly hurricanes at 10,000', and Tropical Storms at 5,000'. Both are millibar levels. We release dropsondes that gather data between the acft and the surface. The Hurricane Center is most concerned with surface data because that's what affects the folks where the storm landfalls. UAVs could collect a lot more low level data since they fly much lower than we. We're also limited to a 16 hr duty day. If the storm moves differently than forecast, or we pick up and go to the spare acft, the back end of our mission is usually impacted. Not good, especially if we're flying a landfalling hurricane. Much mo' better to have a UAV that can stay aloft a lot longer and that doesn't have to land to disgorge/engulf crewdogs. Speaking of crewdogs, it'll probably require 2, rather than the 5 on the WC-130. Probably a LOT less MX required, also. I have no doubt it's only a matter of time, if it ain't already happened, before there's a WX UAV that can stay aloft a lot longer than the 13.5 or so we can get at our upper limit, gets better data, and costs a lot less to operate. Just my $.02.

The only problem with a UAV WX bird is...there goes the good looking ARWO.....well..all 2 or 3 of them.

 

[Gorilla]

:bawling:

I never thought I'd see it. It makes me sad. An era is passing into history.

 

[mzaharis]

:bawling:

I never thought I'd see it. It makes me sad. An era is passing into history.

Don't shed tears just yet!

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blog...79a7Post:8a4530dd-5363-4c56-b3ba-166bee04ab59


[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]

UAVs are not the final answer, says the officer. "The problem is high persistence and small loads. They carry four weapons and will use the first four in 30 minutes in response to troops in contact. What do you do in the next 22 hours?" An aircraft like the Su-25, he points out, "can carry a shedload, get back on the ground and rearm in no time flat."

[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]By the way, isn't an A-10 like that ([FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]carry a shedload, get back on the ground and rearm in no time flat[/FONT][/FONT])?[/FONT][/FONT]