Reaper Mirach

Remote Control Planes and Missiles

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Reaper Mirach; The RAF can bomb the Taliban from 8,000 miles away. British pilots are killing Taliban fighter's everyday in Afghanistan, from the comfort of an armchair 8,000 miles away.

When they hear the word scramble...a British pilot who flies a Grim Rapier drone...he can do it from miles away in a virtual cockpit.

They sit in virtual cockpits guiding remote-controlled Grim Reaper jets to spy on terrorists...and then blow them away with Hellfire missiles.

These high-tech operation rooms are able to give support to troops on the front line, they have been used frequently across borders when the enemy have taken refuge in another Country. They are mainly used in Afghanistan, to kill Taliban fighters, and destroy enemy held positions.

Proud Gurkhas

The armchair 'pilots' are based at

The armchair 'pilots' are based at a Ground Control Station in the middle of America's Nevada Desert.

Like computer games, they fly the £6million drones using a joystick with a fire button on it.

Powerful surveillance cameras on the Reapers identify the targets or snipers, and terrorists compounds, they root out machine gun positions, weapons caches, drugs factories and roadside bombs.

Reaper 'pilot' Lieutenant Colin Kierman, aged 32 from Nottingham, stated: "Here you are on the front line every day...even though you are 8,000 miles away; but it's the proper front line...out there flying and supporting troops' day in, and day out."

The elite RAF and Navy pilots are part of the 39th Squadron based at Creech Air Base, about an hour's drive from Las Vegas.

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They take control after the Reapers,

They take control after the Reapers, which can hover at 21,000 feet for 24 hours unseen by the enemy, take off in Afghanistan. The drones carry four Hellfire II missiles...laser-guided weapons with pinpoint accuracy...and two powerful 500lb bombs.

That is the same bomb load as an F-16 fighter, but the Reaper pilots are never in any danger.

Squadron Leader Steve Smith, 40, a Tornado F3 pilot, from Cumbria, said: "People think its like playing an Xbox game...it's not." "This is a real-sized aircraft flying in real airspace, protecting real men on the ground."

Reaper Mirach: The Royal Navy Mirach Aerial Target Drone (the Mirage 100/5 to be precise) can be launched from the flight deck of an aircraft carrier by the personnel of the RN's least-known squadron, 792. It's the only RN unit that can fit into a mini bus, comprising a mere fifteen men and woman.

The thirteen foot guided missile

And four-fifths of them deploy every time the drones are needed to test Britain's aerial arsenal: two pilots (not pilots in the traditional sense but controllers) and ten engineers to monitor and look after the mini jet.

The thirteen foot guided missile is launched courtesy of two booster rockets which generate around eight tons of thrust each, plus a small internal jet engine, which takes a radio controlled drone to speeds upwards of 530 nautical knots (more than 600mph).

The pilots back at base steer the Mirach through the skies, from altitudes as low as ten feet, skimming the waves, to forty-thousand feet for up to ninety minutes. it can carry flare dispensers to test heat-seeking missiles or tow a small target on the end of a one-hundred foot Kevlar cable.

H.M.S. Manchester was the most recent beneficiary of the tiny squadron's expertise as the destroyer tested her sea dart tracking and attacking capabilities, but the Royal Navy are not the sole users of 792.

The Culdrose-based unit has also recently been working on the Benbecula ranges in the outer Hebrides on tests involving the missile systems of the RAF's new Typhoon fighters.

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US Army Unveils Helicopter Drone

New helicopter-style drones with 1.8 gigapixel colour cameras are being developed by the US Army. These drone aircraft can hover and they do not need a runway to be able to take-off or land.

The army said the technology promised "an unprecedented capability to track and monitor activity on the ground". The statement added that three of the sensor-equipped drones were due to go into service in Afghanistan in either May or June.

Boeing built the first drones, but other firms can bid to manufacture others. "These aircraft will deploy for up to one full year as a way to harness lessons learned and funnel them into a program of record," said Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Munster, product manager at the US Army's Unmanned Aerial System Modernization unit.

Big Eyes

The A160 Hummingbird systems are capable of vertical take-off, meaning access to a runway is not necessary. The army also confirmed that they have hovering capabilities - something its existing unmanned aircaft lack.

Test flights will be carried out in Arizona at the start of the year before they are shipped to the Middle East. The drones will take advantage of the Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance-Imaging System first deployed earlier this year.

The Argus-IS's acronym was chosen to recall Argus Panoptes, the one-hundred-eyed-giant of Greek mythology.

The technology is based on a 1.8 gigapixel camera, the largest video sensor ever used in tactical missions. The Argus-IS system offers the army wider fields of view than had been possible using earlier equipment.

It offers 900 times the resolution of the 2 megapixel camera found in some mobile phones. The system can provide real-time video streams at the rate of 10 frames a second.

The army said that was enough to track people and vehicles from altitudes above 20,000 feet (6.1km) across almost 65 square miles (168 sq km).

In addition, operators on the ground can select up to 65 steerable "windows" following separate targets to be "stared at". Vehicles, people and other objects can be tracked even if they move in different directions.

"If you have a bunch of people leaving a place at the same time, they no longer have to say, 'Do I follow vehicle one, two, three or four,'" said program manager Brian Leninger ahead of the system's launch.

"They can say: 'I will follow all of them, simultaneously and automatically.'" The equipment has had new antennas attached to it to optimise its performance on the new aircraft.

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is also working with the UK-based defence contractor BAE Systems to develop a more advanced version of the Argus-IS sensor that will offer night vision.

It said the infrared imaging sensors would be sensitive enough to follow "dismounted personnel at night". In addition, the upgrade promises to be able to follow up to 130 "windows" at the same time.

The system's first test flight has been scheduled to take place by June 2012. While the army discusses the advantages of unmanned drones offering valuable intelligence to troops on the ground, the programme has run into controversy.

Pakistan has criticised drone strikes which killed 24 of its troops in November on the Afghan border. Iranian officials have also showed off a captured surveillance aircraft which they have refused to return to the US, demanding an apology for the "invasion" of their airspace.

Bullet

Self-Steering Bullet

Researched By US Weapons Experts

A self-guiding bullet that can steer itself towards its target is being developed for use by the US military.

The bullet uses tiny fins to correct the course of its flight allowing it to hit laser-illuminated targets. It is designed to be capable of hitting objects at distances of about 2km (1.24 miles).

Work on a prototype suggests that accuracy is best at longer ranges. A think tank says the tech is well-suited to snipers, but worries about it being marketed to the public.

Work on the project is being carried out by an Albuquerque-based subsidiary of defence contractor Lockheed Martin on behalf of the US government.

The current prototype involves a 4in (10cm) bullet which includes an optical sensor in its nose to detect the laser. This information is then processed and used to move motors within the bullet which steer tiny fins, altering the ammunition's path.

"We can make corrections 30 times per second," said researcher Red Jones. "That means we can over-correct, so we don't have to be as precise each time."

Accuracy

The team has carried out both field tests and computer simulations, and says "engineering issues" remain. However, they add that they are confident of bringing the product to market shortly.

Experts say there would be great demand for the innovation on the battlefield. "One of the big successes in Libya was that the accuracy of the munitions used was much higher than in previous campaigns," a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute think tank said.

"97% of Nato's weapons hit their target to within about 2m (6.5ft). But that was achieved through air munitions. "This would be a revolution for ground forces, and may help further cut down on civilian casualties in future conflicts."

Unlike most bullets the self-guided prototype minimises spin, aiming to fly like a dart. Normally small calibre rifle bullets are spun at over 2,000 revolutions per second to stabilise their flightpath and maximise their speed.

But the team's patent application notes that previous attempts to create self-guiding rapidly-spinning bullets ran into the problem that the electronics required became too complicated.

To simplify things the researchers moved the bullet's centre of gravity further forward than it would normally be. When combined with the fins this caused it to only spin a few revolutions per second, making it easier to steer. Because the bullet's motion settles the longer it is in flight, the researchers say its accuracy improves at longer ranges.

Tests with commercially available gunpowder have measured the bullet reaching just over twice the speed of sound (2,400ft per second), which is still below standard military speeds. But the researchers say they are confident that they can increase its velocity with customised gunpowder.

Terrorism

A press release said that: "Potential customers include the military, and law enforcement agencies, and it may also appeal to recreational shooters."

That actually concerns some industry watchers. "The public may be uncomfortable with the implications of people being able to use this without needing to have a sight line to the target; you could see this having terrorist uses," researchers say.

"There's talk of selling to recreational hunters, but I would imagine the authorities would want to limit the public's access to this kind of technology. "But it would be useful for law enforcement - particularly in hostage situations."

Researchers say special gunpowder may be needed to help the bullet achieve the faster speeds required.

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