Iran’s recent takedown of a U.S. drone certainly turns up the heat in an already tense faceoff in the Persian Gulf.
While Iranian officials claim our drone was violating their airspace, U.S. officials maintain the drone was over international airspace in the Strait of Hormuz. There are even disputes over what type of drone the Iranian Revolutionary Guard actually shot down.
But one thing is clear when it comes to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), the U.S. military has some seriously deadly drones.
Here are just a few of our favorites:
Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk
This is the drone Iran claims it shot down. According to Jonathan Feist at DroneRush.com, this is one big beast. “Of all the military drones, this one may be my favorite…. Not because NASA has one flying around, more because this is just a big airplane that has no seats. It has a 130-foot wingspan, take-off weight of 32,000 lbs, a maximum speed of 391 mph, a service ceiling of 60,000 feet and enough oomph to stay in the air for over 32 hours.”
It’s also part Rolls Royce! Boasting a Royce-North American F137-RR-100 turbofan engine it has a speed of 310 knots and a range of 8,700 nautical miles.
Designed for high-altitude, long-endurance recon missions the RQ-4 Global Hawk has an integrated sensor suite that provides intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capability worldwide. The system offers a variety of reconnaissance options including being able to provide near real-time coverage of images on the ground and being able to track communications or signals intelligence. The systems can track movements on the ground during the day, night and even in adverse weather. There is absolutely no hiding when one of these is looking down.
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RQ-12A Wasp AE: Big punch, Small package
This folding drone packs a serious punch when deployed by Marines on the ground. It has camera sensors under a 29-inch wingspan. Marines can pack this bad boy into a backpack, then get 45 minutes of flight at up to 40 mph for instant recon and enemy surveillance. And nothing is more dangerous than Devildogs who can see you before you see them.
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The Raven
The RQ-11B Raven small unmanned aircraft system provides real-time direct battlespace awareness and target information for Joint Special Operations troops in the U.S. military.
Manufactured by Aerovironment, Inc. it’s currently being used by all branches of the military. As with the Wasp, it’s small with a wingspan of 4.5 feet and weighs under 5 pounds. It can operate for 60-90 minutes and can seek enemy targets with a high resolution, day/night camera, and thermal imager. Now we see you, now you’re dead.
MQ-1B Predator
When Hollywood needs a drone for a war movie or TV show, they use this one.
But it’s actually used by the Air Force and CIA, which proves just how badass it is. Though it has stellar reconnaissance abilities, recent versions offer amazing strike capabilities with two mount points for Hellfire missiles, AIM-92 Stingers or AGM-176 ground target missiles. The Predator is also used for; close air support, combat search and rescue, convoy/raid overwatch, route clearance, and precision strikes. Enemy, good night!
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MQ-9 Reaper
So if you liked the Predator, then you’re going to love the Reaper.
Although reconnaissance is in its blood, this is an absolute war machine with seven mount points for armaments including; a combination of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, GBU-12 Paveway II and GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM).
The V of the tail points up like a normal plane and, unlike the Predator, this one has some muscle. It’s powered by a 900 hp Honeywell TPE331-10GD turboprop engine with a speed of 230 mph and a range of 1,150 miles. The larger craft is about 65 feet across with a max flight weight over 10,000 lbs, yet it can reach an altitude of 50,000 feet.
The Reaper also incorporates a laser range finder/designator, which precisely designates targets for laser-guided munitions including the Guided Bomb Unit-12 Paveway II. The Reaper also has special radars to accurately drop the smackdown of JDAMs, laser-guided missiles and the highly accurate Air-to-Ground Missile-114 Hellfire.
Enter the Reaper, game over.
Follow Phil Briggs @philbriggsVet