

USMC looks to utilize UAVs to help resupply soldiers in remote areas








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lawn mower
By iamted on 3/13/2009 8:26:52 AM , Rating: 2
"The smaller craft are silent and fast" now this was in '04 but i was in the army where they were training opperators of these things and silent wasnt the word that came to mind. it sounded like a big mower taking off and had to make about 5 passes to get to the altitude that they were being used. and the fast part, hmmm faster then most remote control planes sure, but i dont think they have jet engines on them, but that was 5 years ago.

maybe the training ones are from first gen uavs, and the ones they use now are better equiped, wouldnt suprise me.

RE: lawn mower
By emoser96 on 3/13/2009 9:14:04 AM , Rating: 5
"The smaller craft are silent and fast" now this was in '04 but i was in the army where they were training operators of these things and silent wasn't the word that came to mind.

Have you ever heard a jet on the parking pad? Standing 30ft from an A-10 (a relatively quiet jet) at idle, you have to wear double hearing protection and it's still louder than standing 30ft away from a "lawn mower" UAV at max power at launch.

As far as faster, I suspect they mean it's faster than having some convoy come drive out to them, avoid attack, and drop off the supplies. It would also have a faster load up/prep time than a C-130/C-17 if they had to call in for an emergency resupply.

Finally, since these UAVs are tiny (relatively speaking to a cargo plane), they are practically impossible to spot when flying even at low altitudes, which results in a lower equipment drop altitude (read less time for someone else to spot and get to the parachute before you do).

