Subject: Global Hawk
The Global Hawk
This is a photo of the Global Hawk UAV that
returned from the war zone recently under its own
power.
(Iraq to Edwards AFB in CA) - Not transported via
C5 or C17.....
Notice the mission paintings on the fuselage.
It's actually over 250 missions....
(And I would suppose 25 air medals).
That's a long way for a remotely-piloted aircraft.
Think of the technology (and the required quality of
the data link to fly it remotely).
Not only that but the pilot controlled it from a nice
warm control panel at Edwards AFB.
Really long legs -- can stay up for almost 2 days at
altitudes above 60k. The Global Hawk was
controlled via satellite; it flew missions during
OT&E that went from Edwards AFB to upper Alaska
and back non-stop.
Basically, they come into the fight at a high mach #
in mil thrust, fire their AMRAAMS, and no one ever
sees them or paints with radar. There is practically
no radio chatter because all the guys in the flight
are tied together electronically, and can see who is
targeting who, and they have AWACS direct input
and 360 situational awareness from that and other
sensors.
The aggressors had a morale problem before it was
all over. It is to air superiority what the jet engine
was to aviation.
It can taxi, take off, fly a mission, return, land and
taxi on its own. No blackouts, no fatigue, no relief
tubes, no ejection seats, and best of all, no dead
pilots and no POWs.
Pretty cool, huh?
Posts
13 comments:
Mmmmmmmm, missiles and guns and death from above! Killing people from miles away with the push of a button! It's like a delicious bullet cake!
Make sure you read up on the side effects, though.
Skynet!
War porn = more '1984' brainwashing.
Talk about a rightwing mastabatory fantasy on steriods. How exciting: killing without getting close. The more we can desensitize ourselves to the realities of war, the better (in rightwing land).
I thought we were supposed to be done with the war in Iraq in 3 months... 7 years and counting here, but I guess wingers like all that killing going on.
Iraq is winding down, so the drumbeat is growing louder for Iran, Pakistan, Yemen...
Hey wingnuts: believe it or not, this isn't a video game.
Ever gone to the movies & watched those PR ads to join the military? They really make it look like playing really fun video games.
UGH! But caveat emptor applies.
Wow. That's more fuselage markings than Bush got passing grades in his scholastic career.
Oh it's all "pretty cool" til your enemies get the same technology, then suddenly you're all in a twitter about WMD.
Did he say controlled "from a nice
warm control panel at Edwards AFB"? Wouldn't want to catch a chill just because you're job is to kill people?
What a bunch of WANKERS!!
As a sort-of fan of military aircraft, I do have to admit that unmanned drones are a huge leap forward in practicality and economics.
Although I figure their use will eventually supplant piloted aircraft, and that's basically a good thing, I *am* a little bummed that we'll never see a cooler plane than the SR-71.
Is this the model that some enterprising terrorist cell discovered they could monitor the video feed with a $25 software program?
Reminds me of a t-shirt that was around during my long gone youth...
"Join the Army, visit exotic locales, meet interesting people, and kill them."
Now you can skip the "visit exotic locales and meet interesting people" parts. Neato.
As Eric Burden and the Animals used to sing: "War: what is it good for?" The response (in the song) was: absolutely nothing.
However, Burden was wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. WAR is very, very good for the military-industrial complex, and, in particular, for lining the pockets of the Plutocrats (represented by Dickbreath Cheney).
Cheer all you want for how "cool" all of this "hardware" is because you be paying big time for it, and you be not getting nothing for it except for dead people.
And no: it doesn't "protect" you from terrorists. That is a fairy tale.
While the vehicle may be interesting, it's capabilities are overstated in that message.
-- this is only a recon tool, it does not carry any weapons
-- besides the Hawk not even carrying weapons, I did find that AMRAMMs are air-to-air missiles, not intended for ground targets
-- it cannot achieve mach speeds
So it looks like someone had some fun with some military lingo they didn't understand, making up untruths about our government's capabilities.
Here's some official Air Force info: http://www.af.mil/information/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=13225
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