In Las Vegas a pilot pulls the trigger. In Iraq a Predator fires its missile
By Francis Harris at Nellis Air Force Base
Telegraph | News | (Filed: 02/06/2006)
By Francis Harris at Nellis Air Force Base
Telegraph | News | (Filed: 02/06/2006)
An RAF unit based in the Nevada desert is conducting highly secret operations against Iraqi insurgents and Afghan guerrillas using unmanned, powerfully armed American Predator aircraft.
Opening 1115 Flight's doors to a news organisation for the first time, the unit commander, Sqn Ldr Andy Bird, told The Daily Telegraph that British crews had "engaged targets" six times and had inflicted casualties.
Many of the operational details are classified but RAF officers showed grainy video footage from one operation in which a Hellfire missile is seen striking a building used by an Iraqi sniper lying in wait for targets among coalition forces. The gunman was killed.
Another video showed the final moments of an Iraqi who was trying to set up a roadside bomb.
The 700 Predators, which are the size of a light aircraft, are based at airfields in faraway war zones but are piloted using satellite links from cabins at Nellis Air Force Base, on the outskirts of Las Vegas.
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Predators provide eyes in the sky over Afghanistan
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by Maj. David Kurle
455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
6/7/2006 - KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- What has a 50-foot wingspan, buzzes like a giant insect and can put an AGM-114 Hellfire missile through a window from 8,000 miles away?
It is the Air Force‚’s MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, and it‚’s arguably one of the most requested assets in Operation Enduring Freedom, said Capt. Jonathan Songer, commander of the Predator launch and recovery element here.
“They can‚’t get enough of us. They simply can‚’t get enough Predators in the air,” he said.
Captain Songer and the Airmen of the 62nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Flight are responsible for the operation and maintenance of the newest Air Force resources in the ongoing war against extremists in Afghanistan.
Their job is to get the Air Force Predators in the air and pass control of the operational missions to pilots and sensor operators at Nell’s Air Force Base, Nev.
After 20 or more hours in the air, the launch-and-recovery team takes control and lands Predator at this airfield in southeastern Afghanistan where crews maintain these lethal eyes in the sky.
With that kind of flying time, combined with cameras and sensors onboard, the Predator provides large amounts of intelligence for commanders, troops on the ground and the decision-makers in a war against an enemy bent on ruining the future of Afghanistan.
Captain Songer calls this capability “persistence over the battle space,” and it’s saving lives.
”We’re able to look for (improvised explosive devices) and we’re finding folks getting ready to shoot rockets,” he said. ”We call it intelligence preparation of the battlefield.
If our forces are going to conduct a raid we’re telling them what window to go in and what route to take to maximize the safety of the troops on the ground.”
A unique Predator aspect is that it is able to provide continuous coverage of the battlefield and the Air Force doesn’t have to deploy hundreds of Airmen overseas to operate and maintain the system.
That doesn’t mean that Predator crews don’t go into harm’s way, because to launch and land a Predator requires a line-of-sight signal between the ground and the aircraft to alleviate a slight delay when the aircraft is flown via satellite uplink.
That delay could cause problems with the constant, small control inputs necessary to take off and land an aircraft.
Using unmanned aerial vehicles, flown by crews at Nellis, saves time and money. The Air Force doesn’t have to deploy the number of aircrews and maintenance personnel required for most manned aircraft, Captain Songer said.
“It actually doubles the number of Predator sorties we can fly by operating them from home,” he said.
Most Predator missions in the launch-and-recovery phase are flown by a pilot and sometimes a navigator, plus an enlisted sensor operator who manages the aircraft’s sophisticated suite of cameras and laser-targeting equipment.
“We’re in the only enlisted job that I know of where we can shoot a live Hellfire” said Airman 1st Class Rachel Veros, a sensor operator with the 62nd ERF.
While the pilots usually pull the trigger, the sensor operator’s job is to guide the missile into the target using the laser, giving the Predator a real kick should an opportune moment arrive for the application of deadly force.
“I think that UAVs are going to be the wave of the future because why put someone’s life at risk when you can fly this from Nell’s?” Airman Veros said. “It’s invaluable. There’s nothing that compares to the Predator. There’s nothing else with our versatility and durability.”
The future of the Predator, and UAVs in general, are limitless, Captain Songer said.
“If you can imagine it with this platform, it can be done,” he said.
MQ-1 PREDATOR UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE
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Mission
The MQ-1 Predator is a medium-altitude, long-endurance, remotely piloted aircraft. The MQ-1's primary mission is interdiction and conducting armed reconnaissance against critical, perishable targets. When the MQ-1 is not actively pursuing its primary mission, it acts as the Joint Forces Air Component Commander-owned theater asset for reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition in support of the Joint Forces commander.
Features
The MQ-1 Predator is a system, not just an aircraft. A fully operational system consists of four aircraft (with sensors), a ground control station, a Predator Primary Satellite Link, and approximately 55 personnel for deployed 24-hour operations.
The basic crew for the Predator is one pilot and two sensor operators. They fly the aircraft from inside the ground control station via a C-Band line-of-sight data link or a Ku-Band satellite data link for beyond line-of-sight flight. The aircraft is equipped with a color nose camera (generally used by the pilot for flight control), a day variable-aperture TV camera, a variable-aperture infrared camera (for low light/night), and a synthetic aperture radar for looking through smoke, clouds or haze. The cameras produce full motion video while the SAR produces still frame radar images.
The MQ-1 Predator carries the Multi-spectral Targeting System with inherent AGM-114 Hellfire missile targeting capability and integrates electro-optical, infrared, laser designator and laser illuminator into a single sensor package. The aircraft can employ two laser-guided Hellfire anti-tank missiles with the MTS ball.
The system is composed of four major components which can be deployed for worldwide operations. The Predator aircraft can be disassembled and loaded into a "coffin." The ground control system is transportable in a C-130 (or larger) transport aircraft. The Predator can operate on a 5,000 by 75 feet (1,524 meters by 23 meters), hard surface runway with clear line-of-sight. The ground data terminal antenna provides line-of-sight communications for takeoff and landing. The PPSL provides over-the-horizon communications for the aircraft.
An alternate method of employment, Remote Split Operations, employs a smaller version of the GCS called the Launch and Recovery GCS. The LRGCS conducts takeoff and landing operations at the forward deployed location while the CONUS based GCS conducts the mission via extended communications links.
The aircraft includes an ARC-210 radio, an APX-100 IFF/SIF with Mode 4, an upgraded turbo-charged engine and glycol-weeping “wet wings” for ice mitigation. The latest upgrade includes fuel injection, longer wings, dual alternators and other improvements.
Background
The "M" is the Department of Defense designation for multi-role and "Q" means unmanned aircraft system. The "1" refers to the aircraft being the first of a series of purpose-built remotely piloted aircraft systems.
The Predator system was designed in response to a Department of Defense requirement to provide persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information to the warfighter.
In April 1996, the secretary of defense selected the U.S. Air Force as the operating service for the RQ-1 Predator system. A change in designation from "RQ-1" to "MQ-1" occurred in 2002 with the addition of the armed reconnaissance role.
Operational squadrons are the 11th, 15th and 17th Reconnaissance Squadrons, Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field, Nev.
General Characteristics
Primary Function: Armed reconnaissance, airborne surveillance and target acquisition
Contractor: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Incorporated
Power Plant: Rotax 914 four cylinder engine producing 101 horsepower
Length: 27 feet (8.22 meters)
Height: 6.9 feet (2.1 meters)
Weight: 1,130 pounds ( 512 kilograms) empty, maximum takeoff weight 2,250 pounds (1,020 kilograms)
Wingspan: 48.7 feet (14.8 meters)
Speed: Cruise speed around 84 mph (70 knots), up to 135 mph
Range: up to 400 nautical miles (454 miles)
Ceiling: up to 25,000 feet (7,620 meters)
Fuel Capacity: 665 pounds (100 gallons)
Payload: 450 pounds (204 kilograms)
System Cost: $40 million (1997 dollars)
Initial operational capability: March 2005
Inventory: Active force, 57; ANG, 0; Reserve, 0
Point of Contact
Air Combat Command, Public Affairs Office, 115 Thompson St., Suite 211; Langley AFB VA 23665-1987; DSN 574-5014 or (757) 764-5014 October 2005
Photo courtesy U.S. Air Force
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