Armchair pilots striking Afghanistan by remote control/ Nuclear powered unmanned bomber
lc
powered unmanned bomber
The Air Force's new unmanned bomber, the "Reaper," commutes from
Nevada to Afghanistan.
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/images/AIR_UAV_MQ-9_RAF_Kandahar_lg.jpg
Project Pluto: Nuclear powered unmanned bomber
http://www.merkle.com/pluto/pluto.html
Armchair pilots striking Afghanistan by remote control
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/07/09/remote.fighters/?iref=mpstoryview
POSTED: Wed July 9, 2008
CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nevada (CNN) -- From a desert outpost
northwest of Las Vegas, elite fighter pilots journey to a war zone in
Afghanistan, some 7,500 miles away.
The Air Force's new unmanned bomber, the "Reaper," commutes from
Nevada to Afghanistan.
It might be the world's longest commute, except that these armchair
pilots at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada never leave the air-
conditioned comfort of their command center.
Air Force pilots are employing remotely controlled fighter-bomber
aircraft -- known in military parlance as unmanned aerial vehicles, or
UAVs -- to fly combat missions over Afghanistan, hunting for
insurgents bent on undermining Afghan President Hamid Karzai's fragile
government.
This is the future of aerial combat.
Sitting in a virtual cockpit is not as exciting as flying a fighter
jet, but unmanned attack-plane pilots can enjoy a normal workday
schedule -- more or less. Video Watch the Reaper at work »
"Seeing bad guys on the screen and watching them possibly get
dispatched, and then going down to the Taco Bell for lunch, it's kind
of surreal," says Captain Matt Dean.
The original drone was the "Predator," armed with a pair of Hellfire
missiles. It was followed by its bigger and far more lethal cousin,
"the Reaper," which carries four times as much firepower. The Reaper
can carry the same bomb load as an F-16 fighter plane, but its pilots
are not put in harm's way.
The Air Force once employed jerry-rigged missiles strapped to unmanned
spy planes. Now military commanders see remotely piloted aircraft as
the model for the way future wars will be fought.
For over a year, Reapers have been flying two separate round-the-
clock patrols over eastern Afghanistan, controlled from the Creech AFB
command center, which has been strictly off-limits to the media until
now.
Reaper pilots so far this year have launched 64 missiles and dropped
seven 500-pound bombs in Afghanistan.
Originally a spy plane, the Predator was converted to a strike
aircraft shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the Pentagon
and World Trade Center. Air Force technicians strapped two Hellfire
missiles -- one under each wing -- and turned the unarmed
"surveillance platform" into a remote-controlled killing machine.
By the weekend following September 11, the Predator's operators
believe they had Taliban leader Mullah Omar in their sights, but never
got the authorization to pull the trigger.
advertisement
Nonetheless, from that experience a new strategy was born -- one of
employing an increasing fleet of armed, unmanned aircraft. Unmanned
spy planes have always provided an unblinking eye in the sky, but now
they offer untiring combat capability, too.
The pilots stay safe and rotate in shifts to prevent fatigue, guiding
incredibly lightweight planes that can stay aloft for more than a day
at a time. Even after some 30 hours of flying time, upkeep of UAVs is
minimal when compared with that of F-16s.
"Sometimes it's a matter of putting gas in it and it goes right back
up," says Master Sgt. Aaron Hauser, who oversees daily maintenance of
the Predator fleet at Creech. "It's a far simpler aircraft to
maintain, and that's the whole point."
The success of this new concept of aerial power has created a huge
demand for the aircraft. Every commander wants one, but there aren't
nearly enough to go around.
But not for long: the Air Force is shifting its budget toward buying
dozens more remote-controlled killer Reapers.
[]
Ft. Greene cop dead in Afghanistan
http://www.yourstreet.com/2008/7/10/81/3707712/ft-greene-cop-dead-in-afghanistan
By Emily Lavin for The Brooklyn Paper July 10, 2008
Daniel Farkas, 42, died at Camp Phoenix in Kabul. His Independence Day
death is under investigation.