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Subject: UAV weapons
EW3    12/31/2006 6:14:14 AM
The current batch of UAVs trade speed for endurance. But that creates a problem of responsiveness when requested a strike is called in on a target at a distance. My proposal would be to have a GPS (maybe laser) guided weapon, similar to a Hellfire, that has a booster to give it decent range and speed. The idea is to have something with about a 150nm range and a 35lb warhead like a Hellfire which seems to work nicely. This would give a Predator a 250nm kill radius, and would permit ground troops to get a strike on a time critical target much faster than waiting for the Predator to fly there. FWIW - what got me thinking on this is an article I read in using B-1 bombers for CAS in Afghanistan. That's an expensive airplane (IMHO) to be using up it's flight hours for plinking at terrorists. There are also no replacement aircraft for the B-1 in the pipeline. Opinions?
 
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reefdiver       1/1/2007 4:43:30 PM
It might be simpler to turn some older F-16's or even F-18's into UAV's since they're fly-by-wire anyway. Lockheed has already talked about this (as well at UAV'ing the F-117 and F-35).  Just let them act as loitering bomb-trucks. Once the already tested automated refueling is perfected, they could loiter for a very long time.  Would seem to be quite useful in a secured airspace like Iraq and Afghanistan.
 
More realistically, the new Predator-B models will be able to carry SDB's or JDAM-ER sporting wings giving them a 30-40 mile range from 29K. Thats a 60 to 80 mile radius that would seem reasonably sufficient.  Much cheaper to build more Predator's than to create a new weapon system. Deploy more predators.
 
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EW3       1/2/2007 6:39:10 PM
More predators works fo rme ;)
Have to think about the SDB in terms of glide time to a target...  Against a stationary it would not be an issue, but I was thinking about going after a moving target like a terrorist in a toyota. 
 
The thing about all the talk we hear as torning F-16s and F-117s etc to UAVs is that while it does save on the pilot, they are still expensive to operate and maintain. For now we still have real pilots flying UAVs, but I doubt their cost per hour is the same as if they were in the actual cokpit. Recall reading someplace that it cost $5000 per hour to keep an F-16 fighter in the air, compared to $500 per hour for a Predator. $500/hr is chump change to kill bad guys. 
 
 
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