U.S. Drones Drones are some of the most effective weapons of war. If you are wondering why, they can be used to go into places you wouldn’t send a plane. They can drop their bombs or rockets, or if they have to, crash into a target. As a matter of fact, some are made to attack that way. One of the most terrifying and effective weapons of World War II was the Japanese Kamikaze. They created havoc. There’s was a one way mission and they knew it. When an object such as a plane or a drone has the object to crash into you without caring if it is destroyed before it gets to the target it becomes a fearsome weapon, and once you remove the human element it becomes even more fearsome. Some people believe those computer games we are playing where there are wars and we destroy weapons and people are really there only to prepare our younger generations to be able to control drones and such in a real war situation in the military. You have to remember many of these drone pilots actually see the people before they kill them. This is very stressful, but if you get them to play these games for years, the real thing is more like a game than real life to them. The switchblade drones are drones known as loitering munitions. That means they can fly around until they acquire a target. There are two versions I know of. The bigger and more powerful one is the 600 but as of the writing of this article, which is May 24, 2022 it is being said they have not been sent to Ukraine and the Pentagon has ordered ten of them to assess them. Interestingly the Switchblade is a flying Javelin. Yes, it carries the same warhead as the famous Javelin tank buster. Both systems, the 300 and the 600 can be carried in a tube by a soldier and launched by him. The 600 while being more powerful also has a longer range. The 600 can fly for 40 plus minutes. What is also unusual is once the Switchblades are launched, they can be called back and recommitted. They do however need a remote operator. Even the 600 weighs only 33 pounds, but the entire system is 120 pounds. If you are thinking drones are something new, you would be wrong. The United States launched a drone named the Kettering Bug which was invented in 1917. That was our first drone. It was mostly very flimsy and was powered by a 40 horsepower Ford engine. The Wright Brothers helped Kettering build it. Also in 1917, Nikola Tesla created a pilotless radio controlled aircraft. The very first drone was said to be a 4 rotor drone built in 1907. Pretty much the first military drone use by the United States was when we used drones over Afghanistan. We all remember seeing films of terrorist areas being blowup by drones and even watching as the bombs fell from the drones and reached the target. The use of cameras in that war brought home to us the fact people were being killed who had no suspicion a drone was high overhead and was about to take their lives. It almost seemed unreal. Where are we headed in military flight? It seems to me there are going to be far less pilots in planes in the future. We talk about cars driving themselves, but so will planes, ships, trains, and anything else that travels. I assume there will always be a part for pilots to play, but it will be much more limited and in vehicles which will let them switch to automatic so the Artificial Intelligence can take over. I think the most famous United States military drone is the MQ-1 Predator. I know I have seen it many times and it has appeared in countless movies. While it was first used in 1995 in Bosnia, we no longer have a monopoly in drones. It seems just about every country has them. Each country is racing to not only create new and better drones, but also new and better defenses against them. When the war started in Ukraine, Turkey offered their drones to help Ukraine. The U.S. military spends more on drone weapons than any other country, with the current budget being 2.2 billion dollars for UAVs. UAVs are Unmanned Ariel Vehicles. Drones can be very expensive. We have the Avenger, which costs between 12 to 15 million dollars each. It has a range of over 15,000 miles. It is an airplane sized drone. The AAI RQ-7 is more like a large model plane. That also costs 15.5 million dollars. It seems to me to be highly over-priced. Then there is the futuristic looking X-47A. The cost is unknown. The Navy also has a version. It has a range of 1,700 miles. The drones we use come in all size packages from full plane size to a handheld drone. The MQ-9 Reaper costs almost 16 million dollars each. It has a range of 1,200 miles. The MQ-1 Predator I mentioned before costs 4 million dollars and has a range of 777 miles. The MQ-8 Fire Scout is a helicopter drone. That didn’t make it any cheaper. It cost almost 15 million dollars and has a range of only 50 miles. It is used for fire support and reconnaissance. The RQ-4 costs a whopping 223 million dollars each. It has a range of over 14,000 miles. It is known as the Global Hawk. It is a high altitude drone. The RQ-11 Raven is a hand launch drone the size of a model plane. The cost is 173,000 dollars. It is a short range weapon. It can reach 500 feet in altitude and carries a high explosive warhead. The RQ-12 Wasp is a very simple and small drone. It costs 49,000 dollars and has a range of 3 miles. Its cameras allow for it to see beyond the line of sight. The RQ-20 Puma costs 250,000 dollars. It is battery powered and hand launched and carries infrared and electro-optical cameras. Weather is no obstacle to its use. The RQ-21 Blackjack is a reconnaissance drone which costs 5.3 million dollars. It is small and a Marine favorite. The RQ-170 Sentinel is a flying wing drone. There is not much known about it such as cost or capabilities. It is used by the Air Force and CIA. It is a stealth craft and it is said it does not carry weapons and is used for reconnaissance. I am sure there are other drones I didn’t mention in this article in the Unites States arsenal.
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