U.S. Predator - unmanned, lethal, rarely grounded

Source URL: http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-12-20T042656Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-228700-1.xml
Posted at: http://www.air-attack/com/news/news_article/899

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nevada (Reuters) - It was raining hard in Iraq, so some of the pilots at this base near Las Vegas who control remotely piloted Predators from 12,000 km away were taking a short break.

"We fly 24 hours a day, every day. Our last day off was 1,500 days ago," said Lt. Col. Matthew Bannon, director of operations for the 15th Reconnaissance Squadron, a team of 180 pilots, sensor operators and intelligence specialists that flies the $4.9 million aircraft whose only flaw seems to be that it is hard to operate in bad weather.

Still, the unmanned Predator, built by privately owned General Atomics Aeronautical Systems of San Diego, is one of the biggest successes of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, said Loren Thompson of the Virginia-based Lexington Institute.

It provides video images from up to 25,000 feet (7,600 metres) at a lower cost and with greater flexibility than manned flights, and can shoot highly accurate missiles, expanding the military's ability to hit insurgents, even in areas close to mosques.

Predators helped U.S. troops capture former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and have killed al Qaeda suspects in Pakistan and Yemen. In September, a Predator tracked and killed 11 insurgents who had attacked a U.S. base in Iraq.

Early this year, the Air Force said it planned to spend $5.7 billion to buy enough Predators to equip 15 squadrons over the next five years, up from four squadrons now.

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