July 14, 2008. Copyright, 2008, Graphic News. All rights reserved

U.S. and Britain fly robot combat squadrons

LONDON, July 14, Graphic News:  First came the MQ-1 Predator, an unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV, which could carry two laser-guided Hellfire missiles. Then came its big brother -- the MQ-9 Reaper. 

Like its grim namesake, it carries a scythe, but in the form of 14 Hellfire missiles, or four of the air-to-ground Hellfire weapons and two 225-kg (500-pound) Paveway laser-guided bombs, equivalent to the bombing power of an F-16.

The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper is the first hunter-killer UAV, and the 432nd Wing is the first robot attack squadron in aviation history.

Fuelled and armed by a local crew in Afghanistan or Iraq, the MQ-9 can be controlled via satellite link by a pilot and sensor operator sitting at computer consoles in NevadaÕs Creech Air Force Base, some 11,000km (7,000 miles) from the battle zone. 

The 432nd Wing consists of six operations squadrons and a maintenance squadron for the U.S. Air Force fleet of 60 Predator and six Reaper drones. BritainÕs Royal Air Force 39 Squadron -- the last RAF unit to fly Canberra PR9 surveillance aircraft -- are also flying three MQ-9s in the skies of Afghanistan from Creech AFB.

Powered by a turboprop engine, able to fly at 482km/h (300mph) and reach 13,700 metres (45,000ft), the MQ-9 is equipped with infrared, laser and radar targeting. While it carries about the same payload as an F-16, it can stay aloft, fully-loaded, for up to 14 hours, about seven times longer than the F-16, or in an unarmed reconnaissance role for 24 hours.

Lt. Col. Gregory Christ, director of staff at Creech, cites the June 2006 killing of Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was tracked by a Predator but ultimately killed by bombs dropped by an F-16. The Reaper Òis ideal for that type of target,Ó he said.

The 432nd Wing will eventually fly 60 Reapers and 160 Predators, mostly from the U.S. mega-base at Balad, about 60 miles north of Baghdad.

A 39 Squadron source at Creech AFB confirmed on July 9 that the reconnaissance squadron had now became an attack squadron, saying 40 to 60 Taliban fighters have been killed in numerous Reaper operations in Afghanistan.

Within three years 39 Squadron will have ten to 12 Reapers and will probably be based at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire.
/ENDS

Imperial to metric conversions

36ft = 10.9m
66ft = 20.1m
300mph = 482km/h
45,000ft = 13,700m
500-lb = 225-kg