The U.S. Ariforce Has Officially Retired The Predator Drone

A Predator and Reaper operating out of Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan. USAF

The War Zone/The Drive: SAF Officially Retires MQ-1 Predator While MQ-9 Reaper Set To Gain Air-To-Air Missiles

The Reaper is set to gain new capabilities just as its iconic progenitor is pulled from service, but arming drones with air-to-air missiles isn't new.

The Reaper has come for the USAF's long-serving MQ-1 Predator drone fleet, literally. Today, March 9th, 2018, the flying service will officially retire Predator, a platform that ushered in a new era of unmanned air warfare—most notably the ability to rain down precision death as its controllers sat halfway around the globe in dark trailers. The decision to pull the Predator fleet is a previously preempted and controversial one, but its legacy is secured in the form of its super-sized cousin, the MQ-9 Reaper, an aircraft that will become the backbone of USAF drone operations. And with its elevated importance within the USAF's inventory, the Reaper is going to gain new capabilities and an expanded mission set, including the ability to fire air-to-air missiles.

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WNU Editor: It's replacement .... the MQ-9 Reaper .... is definitely an upgarde.

The U.S. Military Has Retired The Predator Drone

An MQ-9 Reaper, armed with GBU-12 Paveway II laser guided munitions and AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, piloted by Col. Lex Turner flies a combat mission over southern Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force Photo / Lt. Col. Leslie Pratt)

The Guardian: US retires Predator drones after 15 years that changed the 'war on terror'

Retirement gives military analysts a chance to review mixed history of weapon that has been associated with low-cost war, disembodiment and civilian deaths.

The Predator is dead; long live the Reaper. The retirement of the antiquated Predator drone MQ-1, which is to be withdrawn from service in July and replaced by the more capable MQ-9 Reaper, is giving military analysts an opportunity to review the mixed history of a weapon that has long been associated with low-cost war, a sense of disembodiment from conflict, and for inflicting a high number of civilian casualties.

“There’s a perception in large parts of the American political system that drone campaigns are more or less free, but that’s not true,” says Stephen Biddle, senior fellow for defense policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Like anything that’s perceived as free, it tends to get overused.”

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WNU Editor: This is the drone that will replace the Predator .... Fear the Reaper: U.S. drone that replaces the controversial Predator is a much faster, deadlier weapon (National Post/Bloomberg). On a side note .... Drone operators outnumber any other type of Air Force pilot (Endgadget).

U.S. Air Force To Discontinue Buying Predator Drones

Air Force Is Through With Predator Drones -- The Danger Room

Wave a tear-stained handkerchief for the drone that changed the face of air war: The Air Force won’t buy any more Predators. The Reaper drone is about to be in full effect.

This year, the Air Force completed its scheduled purchase of 268 Predators from manufacturer General Atomics, somewhat behind a schedule the service announced in 2008. By “early 2011,” says Lt. Col. Richard Johnson, an Air Force spokesman, “we’re taking delivery of our last Predator.”

February, to be exact, according to Kimberly Kasitz, a General Atomics spokeswoman. “We’ve actually had a couple of internal celebrations,” she says.

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More News On The End Of The Predator Drone For the U.S. Air Force

USAF Set to Take Delivery of Last Predator Drone -- Daily Tech
Air Force slowly phases out predator drone -- Defense Systems
So Long, Predator! -- Gizmodo

My Comment: The U.S. Air Force wants something faster and more lethal .... and the Predator Drone just does not cut it anymore, especially when compared to other drones like the Reaper.

Clues To The Growing Power Of Military Drones

UAV Reaper

Evolving Predators -- Slate Magazine

Yesterday, I asked about a supposedly new device, deployed on U.S. unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), that reportedly helped turn the tide in Iraq and may to be facilitating an increase in drone-delivered missile strikes along the Afghan-Pakistan border. As cryptically described in the Los Angeles Times, the system enables "the tracking of human targets even when they are inside buildings or otherwise hidden from Predator surveillance cameras." It "gives remote pilots a means beyond images from the Predator's lens of confirming a target's identity and precise location."

Is this technology for real? If so, what is it? Since the government isn't telling, I poked around a bit and asked readers for ideas.

Here are some possible leads. First, Slate reader mark_925 flags a list posted Friday on Aviation Week's Ares blog. The list includes several technologies that have improved U.S. efficiency at hunting and killing adversaries in Iraq. They include:

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Air Combat by Remote Control

When I read this story I could not help but think of the Terminator movies.

The sniper never knew what hit him. The Marines patrolling the street below were taking fire, but did not have a clear shot at the third-story window that the sniper was shooting from. They were pinned down and called for reinforcements.

Help came from a Predator drone circling the skies 20 miles away. As the unmanned plane closed in, the infrared camera underneath its nose picked up the muzzle flashes from the window. The sniper was still firing when the Predator's 100-pound Hellfire missile came through the window and eliminated the threat.

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My Comment: Air power, sea power, and in the future ... ground forces .... it appears inevitable that much of this "power" will be robotic, controlled from command centers and far away bases.

On the one hand this will make wars very lethal against forces that do not have this technological edge. On the other hand, organizations or countries that do not have this power will probably be very reluctant to fight a battle against a foe that has this technological edge.