Deadly UAVs of Modern Warfare
by A look at some of the present Unmanned Aerial Vehicles used in warfare.
IAI Heron- the Heron or Machatz-1 is a UAV developed by the Malat division of Israel Aerospace Industries. It is capable of 52 hours flight endurance at 35,000 feet. The Heron navigates using an internal GPS receiver and could be preprogrammed for autonomous operation after take-off. It could carry an assortment of sensors like infra red and visible light surveillance systems.
MQ-1 Predator - is another UAV from General Atomics utilized by the US Air Force under the MALE (Medium Altitude, Long Endurance) category. It is capable of reconnaissance and could be equipped to fire two air to ground AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. The aircraft was in use since 1995 and has seen combat over Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bosnia and Iraq. It is powered by one Rotax 914 turbocharged piston engine and could attain a speed of 217 km/hr remaining airborne for 18 hours.
RQ-7 Shadow – is another IAI manufactured UAV in service with the US Army and Marine Corps. It is basically used for reconnaissance functions and could be launched on a rail and recoverable with the aid of an arresting gear. Introduced in 2003, it is powered by one Wankel UAV engine and could remain airborne for 7 hours at a range of 109.5 km.
MQ-8 Firescout - is an unarmed autonomous helicopter configured UAV developed by Northrop Grumman for use of the US Armed Forces. It is an unmanned reconnaissance, situational awareness and precision targeting support platform. First flight was made in 2002 with introduction in 2003. It has a cruising speed in excess of 200 km/hr with an endurance of 8 hours and could reach operating altitude of 20,000 feet.
MQ-9 Reaper - is another UAV from General Atomics for use of US Air Force, Navy and British Royal Air Force. It is the first Hunter-Killer UAV of its kind capable of high altitude surveillance and long endurance. Powered by one Honeywell turboprop engine, it could attain cruise speeds of more than 300 km/hr and remain airborne for 28 hours fully loaded with sensors and armaments.
Bell Eagle Eye – or the Model 918 is the US tiltrotor UAV offered as an option among competitors for the US Navy’s VT-UAV program. It was developed from 1993 as a scaled prototype and has its maiden flight in March 1998. Powered by one Pratt and Whitney PW207D turboshaft, it could attain maximum speed of 360 km/hr and could remain airborne for 6 hours.
RQ-4 Global Hawk - is obviously the biggest UAV of them all, in role and design it is similarly configured like a Lockheed U-2, the high altitude spyplane of the cold war. Manufactured by Northrop Grumman, it is equipped with one Roll-Royce AE 3007H turbofan engine, it could reach 650 km/hr speeds at 36 hours continuous airborne operation at altitudes of 65,000 feet. It is an indispensable weaponry fielded in Afghanistan and has sensors to penetrate cloud covers for the attainment of necessary ground data.
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Post CommentMrs M
On June 23, 2009 at 4:51 am
By the title of this article I really thought it was going to be about the video game Call of Duty Modern Warfare lol
I play it a ton….so I found this article to be really interesting! well put together.
ken bultman
On June 23, 2009 at 5:31 am
Thanks for an interesting and informative article. Makes my private license seem insignificant. Furthermore, it seems odd to refer to the ground-bound operator of a Predator as a pilot.
swatilohani
On June 23, 2009 at 5:48 am
cool
tastoony
On June 23, 2009 at 5:50 am
Man i love the planes, especially the last one, RQ-4 Global Hawk
Pinaki Ghosh
On June 23, 2009 at 6:53 am
Nice article and informative, too. Thanks for sharing.
Kairos
On June 23, 2009 at 6:59 am
interesting!you are really a man of diversity.
clay hurtubise
On June 23, 2009 at 7:05 am
Seems just a matter of time before commercial airlines go pilotless!
Thanks,
Clay
papaleng
On June 23, 2009 at 9:48 am
Ganda naman Kabayan.
CHAN LEE PENG
On June 23, 2009 at 10:17 am
Wow, those planes are COOL though…but powerful, right? Great post, liked it.
Mr Ghaz
On June 23, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Great post!! Nicely done..Highly informative article..well done!!
rutherfranc
On June 23, 2009 at 9:09 pm
gone high-tech my friend.. this is awesome..
monica55
On June 24, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Awesome! Beautifully illustrated and well written.
Monica.
CutestPrincess
On July 9, 2009 at 1:49 pm
you have lots of great ideas… cool!
RS Wing
On July 11, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Cool inventions of the modern age…they do save lives and gather intelligence, I think in the Vietnam war, piloted aircrafts were referred too as “Birddogs”, same idea though….gathering info and spotting then picking up the wounded. Another very informative piece, well written, Good read with awesome pics attached. Great work.
Lostash
On October 16, 2009 at 11:16 am
Very interesting piece, Deep! How about a look at the future of un-manned fighter aircraft?
Peter West
On December 25, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Dude, that must be why the Govt cut back on producing the F-22 Raptor, they have put all the money into UAV’s…the fight of the drones. Instead we have a dog of a plane, the joint strike fighter, about exciting as a Skoda.
Waqas
On May 11, 2010 at 1:47 am
These UAV kill hundreds of innocent civilians in the northwest of Pakistan. Very sad… To save one pilot they kill hundreds of innocent civilians of some other country. Now where are the so called human rights.