Where Hurricane Katrina hit last year, the Air Force wanted to send in Predator drones, to serve as robotic spotters for search-and-rescue teams. The Federal Aviation Administration, still squeamish about drones flying in civilian airspace, negged the plan, however — too much risk of a crash with a manned aircraft, the bureaucrats said.
But a new deal between the flyboys and the FAA should allow the Predators to pitch in, the next time disaster hits.
“A Predator would be limited to flying in restricted airspace at an altitude of 19,000 feet,” Defense News reports. “Other aircraft would be expected to stay out of the Predators way.”
On short notice, the four disassembled [Predators] and their trailer-like control center could be loaded into a C-17 Globemaster III transport plane or on trucks and dispatched to the disaster region…
From an airfield as far as 150 miles from the search area, a team of two pilots and two sensor operators would handle the Predators takeoffs and landings.
Back at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., pilots and sensor operators would fly the search-and-rescue phase of the sortie and be in radio or phone contact with recovery operations workers. The Air Force uses a similar split operation for flights over Iraq and Afghanistan.
In a disaster zone, Air Force tactical air control parties and others could use laptop computers hooked up to small antennas to view live Predator images and talk with the crews flying the aircraft.
In addition to sending pictures from its thermal imaging and video cameras, the Predator can also determine location coordinates for rescuers. For example, the Predator can provide an approximate Global Positioning System map coordinate for anything it sees. At night, the aircrafts laser spotter can mark areas for rescuers wearing night-vision goggles.
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>”A Predator would be limited to flying in restricted airspace at an altitude of 19,000
>feet,” Defense News reports. “Other aircraft would be expected to stay out of the Predator
what defense will we have when a rogue nation,ie N. Korea decides to develop unmanned,battery operated killer munitions uav’s to attack its sworn enemies the good old U.S.A.? We all know that a lot of oriental nations are very good at mass production, and design theft. A remote controlled platform can sit off our coasts and wreak havoc. Do we have the resources or defenses to prevent this from happening? Imagine 100 incoming targets concentrated on one area,Or god forbid nbc weapons.
Good evening. Fall is my favorite season in Los Angeles, watching the birds change color and fall from the trees.
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THX 8), Opa.