RQ-1 Predator
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The RQ-1 Predator is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which the U.S. Air Force describes as a "medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle system." When weaponized it is identified as MQ-1 Predator and can carry and use two AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. The aircraft has been in use since 1995, and been in combat over Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Yemen. Since the end of 2004 it is also used by the Italian Air Force.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems was awarded a contract to develop the Predator in January 1994.
The related RQ-1 Mariner is an adaptation of the Predator for the U.S. Navy.
It is a Joint Forces Air Component Commander-owned theater asset for reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition in support of the Joint Force commander. The Predator can be employed in moderate risk areas without risking the life of the operator. Examples include areas where enemy air defenses have not been fully suppressed, open ocean environments, and biologically or chemically contaminated environments.
The RQ-1A/B Predator is a system, not just an aircraft. The fully operational system consists of four air vehicles (with sensors), a ground control station (GCS), a Predator primary satellite link communication suite and 55 people.
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Detailed description
The Predator air vehicle and sensors are commanded and controlled by its GCS via a C-band line-of-sight data link or a Ku-band satellite data link for beyond-line-of-sight operations. During flight operations the crew in the GCS is an air vehicle operator and three sensor operators. The aircraft is equipped with a color nose camera (generally used by the air vehicle operator 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 and the synthetic aperture radar produces still frame radar images. On the RQ-1B, either the daylight variable aperture or the infrared electro-optical sensor may be operated simultaneously with the synthetic aperture radar.
Each Predator air vehicle can be disassembled into six main components and loaded into a container nicknamed "the casket." This enables all system components and support equipment to be rapidly deployed worldwide. The largest component is the GCS and it is designed to roll into a C-130 Hercules. The Predator primary satellite link consists of a 6.1 meter (20 ft) satellite dish and associated support equipment. The satellite link provides communications between the ground station and the aircraft when it is beyond line-of-sight and is a link to networks that disseminate secondary intelligence. The RQ-1A system needs 1,500 by 40 meters (5,000 by 125 ft) of hard surface runway with clear line-of-sight to each end from the GCS to the air vehicles. All components must be located on the same airfield.
The improvements in the RQ-1B include an ARC-210 radio, an APX-100 IFF/SIF with mode 4, an ice mitigation system, up-graded, turbo-charged engine, and validated technical orders for operations and maintenance. A number of Predators have quick-reaction laser designators so they can act as airborne forward air controllers for allied tactical aircraft. Following a series of tests in 2001, some of those Predators have been armed with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles guided by those laser designators.
The "R" is the Department of Defense designation for reconnaissance; "Q" means unmanned aircraft system. The "1" describes it as being the first of a series of purpose-built unmanned reconnaissance aircraft systems. The "A" says it is the pre-production version of the RQ-1 system series while the "B" denotes the baseline production configuration. See also RQ-2 Pioneer, RQ-3 Dark Star, RQ-4 Global Hawk, RQ-5 Hunter, RQ-6 Outrider, and RQ-7 Shadow.
The Predator system was designed in response to a United States Department of Defense requirement to provide persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information to the warfighter. It was the first successful advanced concept technology demonstration to enter production and service. This is a new acquisition process designed to reduce costs and development time by relying on commercial off-the-shelf technology to the maximum extent possible. In April 1996, the United States Secretary of Defense selected the United States Air Force as the operating service for the RQ-1A Predator system. The 11th and 15th Reconnaissance Squadrons, Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, currently operate the RQ-1A/B. Also at Creech AFB is the 17th Reconnaissance Squadron which operates the MQ-1 Predator, a weaponized version of the RQ-1B.
In 2005, the U.S. Department of Defense recommended retiring Ellington's 147th Fighter Wing's F-16 Falcon fighter jets (a total of 15 aircraft), which was approved by the BRAC committee. They will be replaced with 12 RQ-1 Predator UAVs. The wing's combat support arm will remain intact. The 272nd Engineering Installation Squadron, an Air National Guard unit currently located off-base, will move into Ellington Field in its place.
Specific missions
On February 7, 2002, an armed Predator attacked a convoy of sport utility vehicles, killing a suspected al Qaeda leader. The intelligence community initially expressed doubt that he was Osama bin Laden.
On November 3, 2002, the CIA used a Predator again in an assassination. A Hellfire missile was fired at a car in Yemen, killing Qaed Senyan al-Harthi, an al-Qaeda leader thought to be responsible for the USS Cole bombing. It was the first direct US strike in the War on Terror outside Afghanistan.
In December 2003, nine children and a 25-year-old man were killed in a strike from a RQ-1 Predator in Hutala, a village in a remote area of southern Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. The intended target, a Taliban supporter who was suspected of several attacks on foreign aid and construction workers, was not among the dead and may have not been in the village at the time. Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai stated that he was "profoundly shocked" by the CIA attack and demanded closer coordination with Afghan authorities on all future military strikes.
In early May 2005, Haitham al-Yemeni, an al Qaeda explosives expert from Yemen, was killed in a village in northwest Pakistan near the Afghanistan border by an unmanned CIA-operated RQ-1 Predator aircraft firing a Hellfire missile.
On December 3, 2005, a US Predator UAV reportedly kills Al Qaeda #3 Chief Abu Hamza Rabia in his sleep in Haisori, Pakistan. Four others were also killed.
On January 13, 2006, several US Predators conducted an airstrike on Damadola village in Pakistan where al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri was reportedly located. CIA Predator Drones reportedly fired 10 missiles killing 18 civilians, including five women and five children. According to Pakistani authorities, the U.S. strike was based on faulty intelligence and al-Zawahiri was not present in the village. Later information suggests that several members of al Qaeda were in fact present and were killed. It now seems that al Qaeda's master bomb maker and chemical weapons expert, Midhat Mursi (Abu Khabab al-Masri), was one of the men killed in this missile attack. Pakistani officials also said that Khalid Habib, the al Qaeda operations chief for Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Abdul Rehman al Magrabi, a senior operations commander for al Qaeda, were killed in the Damadola attack.
References
Parts of this article are taken from the public domain USAF Fact Sheet http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=122
Statistics of the RQ-1
- System Cost: US$25 million (1999)
- Contractor: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Incorporated
- Landing Type: runway
- Launch Type: runway
- Power Plant:
- RQ-1A: Rotax 912 four cylinder 60 kW engine
- RQ-1B: 914 four cylinder turbo-charged 78 kW engine
- Ceiling: 25,000 to 45,000 ft (7.6 to 13.7 km)
- Endurance: 16 to 40 h
- Fuel Capacity: 450 L (120 US gallons)
- Length: 8.2 m (27 ft)
- Height: 2.1 m (7 ft)
- Payload: 204 kg (450 lb)
- Armament: two AGM-114 Hellfire missiles
- Weight: 431 kg empty; 1020 kg max
- Wingspan: 14.8 m (48.7 ft)
- Velocity: 135 km/h (84 mi/h)(cruise); 220 km/h (140 mi/h) (max)
See also
- Joint Direct Attack Munition
- RQ-2 Pioneer
- RQ-3 Dark Star
- RQ-4 Global Hawk
- RQ-5 Hunter
- RQ-6 Outrider
- RQ-7 Shadow
- RQ-8 Fire Scout
- RQ-9 Predator B
| Modern USAF Series | Miscellaneous | |
| Attack--OA/A-10,AC-130H/U | RC-135V/W | |
| Bomber--B-52,-2,-1B,F-117A | OC-135B | |
| Fighter--F-15/E ,F-16 | KC-10,-135 | |
| Electronic--E-3,-4B,-8C EC-130E/J,H | HC-130P/N | |
| Transport--C-5,-17,-141B, -20,-21 | MC-130E/H/P | |
| C-22B, -32, -130, -37A, -40B/C | MH-53J/M | |
| Trainers--T-1, -37, -38, -43, -6 | HH-60G | |
| RQ-1/MQ-1 Predator UAV | Weather--WC-130, -135 | UH-1N |
| Global Hawk UAV | UAV--RQ-1/MQ-1 UAV, Global Hawk | U-2S/TU-2S |
| VC-25 |
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| Active military aircraft of the United States | Image:Flag of the United States.svg | |
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External links
- Predator Familiy Update
- US Army Warrior UAV
- US Army ER/MP Program
- UAV Sensor Applications
- USAF/Predator B UAV
- US Airforce Fact Sheet
- The problem with the Predatorar:بريداتور
de:Predator (Drohne) eo:Predator id:RQ-1 Predator ja:RQ-1 プレデター no:RQ-1 Predator fr:RQ-1 Predator