A Lesson On Drone Warefare

[Wildfire]

Hi sammies,

Here's something to chew-on for a slow Saturday morning :p

Thanks in large part to the ongoing global War on Terror, many of us have a schoolgirl crush on drones.

As a result, we love to put an excessive emphasis on theory based, technological solutions to problems
and the search for military platforms that do everything under the sun and remove as many humans from
the loop as possible to cut costs and reduce footprint.

To many, drones are “aircraft of the gods” because they are (perceive to be) cheap, stealthy, easy to rapidly
deploy anywhere in the world and expendable with no human pilot.

The reality is for all they are capable of presently doing, drones are not aircraft of the gods, they are still
nascent technology.

To those who think that border can be defended by hundreds of propeller powered MQ-9 Reapers and MQ-1
Predator drones (or their equivalents) in place of traditional manned, high performance jet aircraft, they are
sorely mistaken.

Until a drone has the artificial intelligence and manoeuvrability to independently operate against manned, high
performance aircraft, any military with a reasonable traditional air defence infrastructure can easily stop a
military equipped with only drones.

An enemy power with surface to air missiles, AWACS and third to early fourth generation aircraft will make
mincemeat of a military armed only with drones.

Lesson 1

Drones do not have the agility or speed nor the payload of a manned combat vehicle, expensive complicating
factors for drones technology.

Due to weight and design constraints, today UAVs mostly cannot detect and evade threats reliably for lack of
sophisticated airborne radar and ECM apparatus , let alone shoot back, to survive in denied or contested airspace.

Lesson 2

A question no one ever seems to ask is what happens if an enemy nation, equipped with anti-satellite missiles,
destroys the communications satellite that links the air operations center to its drones?

Or what happens if an old yet still reliable third generation fighter aircraft flies between gaps in AWACS and sea or
ground-based radar coverage to engage ECM and/or ECCM to blindside the controller of the drones?

Lesson 3

Like any computer programming, drone artificial intelligence programming and control can be interrupted and hacked
as demonstrated by the Iranians in their two recent hijacking and capturing of American drones.

Lesson 4

The shooting down of an U.S. Air Force MQ-1 Predator in Turkey on September 18, 2012 by an unsophisticated
Kurdish rebel group using handheld weapon is an awakening call for military planners on the future of unmanned
combat aerial vehicle.

Also, the shooting down of the drone by the Israeli Air Force F-16, a 1970's design and build aircraft should teach us a
powerful lesson about the danger and weakness of a future dominated by pilotless planes.

 

[chupacabra]

Traditional pilots costs more. Also president must attend funerals and explain to the families. Drones are the way to go. Military can go to gamers convention to hire top gamers to pilot drones. Not much training.

 

[chupacabra]

Drones can be equipped with radar jamming tech to shut down enemies flight controls. Drones controllers can be mobile. Anti missiles tech once used by enemies give away their position.

 

[Equalisation]

Tuan, Agree.

Drones can be lethal especially if it is used with Laser Guided technology.:o

 

[chupacabra]

With power mobile phones today, drones can be control by using just an iphone in a war scenerio. Even units that have no pilots in them can deploy drones. Imagine every army unit having a few of these drones. Can easily take out enemy runways first.

A drone can be dismantle behind enemy lines and reassemble to take out key targets first.

 

[Cestbon]

Today drone technology only good for spy and small bomber.
Maybe in 20 year it will improve.

 

[halsey02]

Tuan, Agree.

Drones can be lethal especially if it is used with Laser Guided technology.:o

Tuan, can detect & scan lobang, bagus one!, before firing missile??

 

[jubilee1919]

Traditional pilots costs more. Also president must attend funerals and explain to the families. Drones are the way to go. Military can go to gamers convention to hire top gamers to pilot drones. Not much training.

Don't talk rubbish unless you can provide links. For drones to do that it will cost more than a conventional aircraft. Drones are fire and forget weapons.

 

[Equalisation]

Tuan, can detect & scan lobang, bagus one!, before firing missile??

Datok, Agree.

Sekali scanning halfway, the transmitter in a robotic voice rattles ... "scanner to hq, scanner to hq .... target spotted, be there in 3, 2, 1 and ...landed".

Incidentally, the target was the G spot.:o

 

[halsey02]

Datok, Agree.

Sekali scanning halfway, the transmitter in a robotic voice rattles ... "scanner to hq, scanner to hq .... target spotted, be there in 3, 2, 1 and ...landed".

Incidentally, the target was the G spot.:o

Kawan, your "drone" rosak, shouldn't have bought those assembled in P.R.C.

 

[chupacabra]

Don't talk rubbish unless you can provide links. For drones to do that it will cost more than a conventional aircraft. Drones are fire and forget weapons.

No Need for links. Its common sense. Only nerds in the army will be controllers of drones. My bro in law is a pilot in peesai, the cost of training a pilot is more than training a computer nerd with a joystick. This is no brainer.

 

[tualingong]

UCAVs is the way to go.

Pilot driven planes are old concepts.

I wouldn't mind if UCAVs are down.

They can be sent in again.

Pilots cannot than 9Gs without passing out.

Therefore restricting the agility of the planes.

 

[The_Hypocrite]

The article feels like its written by the pro pilots union. Did not someone say that Robert Gates, former defense secretary had to fight an uphill task against the air force and navy admirals who were mostly pilots? Now, the US Navy have launched and recovered drones on carriers and there will be more to come.

If drones become more common, less pilots will be trained and they could be out of a job.

This reminds me of the need for battleships before pearl harbour arguments. Before WW2, there was still a huge preference for battleships eventhough they were outdated and no lessons were learnt from the battle of Jutland. Many still saw that aircrafts could no sink ships and the battleship was the best ship out there.

After Pearl Harbour, the USA concentrated on carriers as it was proven to be the future of warfare and the rest is history/

Today, drones have done alot of things that are equal to a piloted plane,,or better. They can stay in the air longer, cheaper etc.

Drones also have no need for a life support system that increase cost of production to the plane,,and soon drones will be able to outmaneuver manned planes as they dont have to worry about the Gforces which affect piloted planes.

In the 90s I was told that a planes limitation is the pilot,,the pilot cant handle high g maneuvers etc.

Now with drones, this weak link is taken out...also even manned planes can be hacked into etc as planes have so many computers in it,,that a virus can cause the plane to crash...

the future is in drones, though i believe that there will always be a place for piloted planes,,just that now drones compliment the piloted planes,,in the future, piloted planes will compliment drones and they will work together to achieve mission objectives

 

[MOOLahMOJO]

There're already drone in our midst. We call them cybots.

 

[watchman8]

One of dumbest article on drones. Author has no clue and no creativity in applying present day technologies to drones.

Take for example lesson 1. Drones have less payload than manned aircraft? First time I have ever heard such stupidity in this field. Even non technical person will know that without a human being as pilot, the drone can last longer in the air and can carry more payload since the drone computer is just a laptop and does not need heavy equipment for breathing, pressure and temperature control, ejection seat, display avionics etc.

 

[jubilee1919]

One of dumbest article on drones. Author has no clue and no creativity in applying present day technologies to drones.

Take for example lesson 1. Drones have less payload than manned aircraft? First time I have ever heard such stupidity in this field. Even non technical person will know that without a human being as pilot, the drone can last longer in the air and can carry more payload since the drone computer is just a laptop and does not need heavy equipment for breathing, pressure and temperature control, ejection seat, display avionics etc.

They are smaller, less safety requirements needed as no pilot's safety to consider, thus need only cheap materials including engines. They are build with cost effectiveness and the required payloads in mind.

 

[jubilee1919]

No Need for links. Its common sense. Only nerds in the army will be controllers of drones. My bro in law is a pilot in peesai, the cost of training a pilot is more than training a computer nerd with a joystick. This is no brainer.

UAV against kucing kurap countries like Afghanistan, Gaza Strip and Iraq is easy. Against better defended countries like Iran is not so. What more against China, Russia or Europe? These countries have pretty good defence umbrella against unfriendly intrusions.

They have satellites, EW aircraft and ground ECMs to prop up their defence capabilities, including intelligence. If UAV is the way to go for the future, you think they would not have 100% UAV now? This concept has been thought of a long time ago, as far back as the Vietnam war.

 

[WinneMUCCA]

In this age, the way to win the war is through using drones as many are afraid of dying.

 

[Wildfire]

Myths and Legends ... of UAVs

Myths #1 - You don't need pilots to fly UAVs ... any game boys can do it!

Qualification requirements for RPA pilot (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) of the USAF and CIA

1. Qualified fixed wing or rotary wing pilot with 400 hours primary and instrument flight
2. 10 weeks conversion course to RPA pilot

For info ...

All the pilots for the first squadron of 18 MQ-9 Reaper (42nd attack squadron) unmanned
aircraft at Creech Air Force Base, NV were F-16 pilots converts!

Myth #2 UAVs can outperform pilots in G-Force pull

Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAV) are still in their early developmental stage, so don't
expect them to do significant G-force pull anytime soon!

Constructed of light weight composite materials and powered only by a 950 horsepower
turboprop, with a maximum speed of about 260 knots (483 km per hour) and a cruising
speed of 150-170 knots (278 to 315*km per hour), UAVs are designed more for endurance
and stealth rather than agility and aerobatic performance.

Myth #3 Air to Air Combat (Dogfight)

With a 66 foot wingspan, and a maximum payload of 3800*lb, the MQ-9 can be armed with
a variety of weaponry, including Hellfire missiles (up to 14, depending on mission configuration)
and 500-lb laser guided bomb units.

Used primarily by US and Israeli forces operating in Low Intensive Warfare in the Middle East
and Afghanistan.

The biggest of all UAVs, the MQ-9 Reaper has a range of 3,682 miles and an operational
altitude of 50,000 ft, which make it especially useful for long-term loitering operations, both
for surveillance, intelligence gathering, reconnaissance and interdiction.

Although it is possible to arm the MQ-9 with two AIM 9 air-to-air missile, UAVs have never
been known to engage in air to air combat, yet!

Additional notes

As I mentioned in the main article, we continue to have a school girl crush on UAVs and new
technology in general.

The fact remains as highlighted by brother Cestbon above:-

"Today drone technology only good for spy and small bomber.
Maybe in 20 year it will improve. "

By the way, the above article was research and author by myself for general interest
from my background in the SAF. You can google for specific to my above claims.

Cheers

 

[M1Abrams]

Thanks for the information.