The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan |
Dirty Little Secrets
Iranian Aircraft Down In Flames Over Iraq
The U.S. Air Force recently revealed that one of its fighters had shot down an Iranian Ababil UAV over Iraq. This is nothing new, really. The Iranians have been developing UAVs for over a decade. Their Ababil is a 183 pound UAV with a ten foot wing span, a payload of about 80 pounds, a cruising speed of 290 kilometers an hour and an endurance of 90 minutes. The Ababil is known to operate as far as 150 kilometers from its ground controller. But it also has a guidance system that allows it to fly a pre-programmed route and then return to the control by its ground controllers for a landing (which is by parachute). The Ababil can carry a variety of day and night still and video cameras. There are many inexpensive and very capable cameras available on the open market, as is the equipment needed to transmit video and pictures back to the ground.
|
© 1998 - 2024 StrategyWorld.com. All rights Reserved. |