Predator controlled from Nevada crashes in Iraq

[NVMojo]

An unmanned Predator spy plane that was being controlled remotely from Creech Air Force Base at Indian Springs crashed Tuesday in Iraq, the U.S. Central Command Air Forces said in a statement.

The armed, MQ-1 Predator was based with the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron at Balad Air Base, Iraq, according to the statement.

A spokesman at Nellis Air Force Base said more information about the crash won't be available until a board of officers investigates and issues a report. The process takes about 90 days, he said.

On a daily basis, pilots and sensor operators in ground control stations at Nellis and its sister airfield, Creech, 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas, operate Predators overseas via satellite links. The procedure is known as a "remote-split" operation in which the plane is launched thousands of miles away in Southwest Asia and control of the plane is later "handed off" to personnel in the United States, Air Force officials have said.

more...

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Mar-22-Wed-2006/news/6488221.html

[Kagemusha]

1. Isn't there a substantial response time lag this way?

I've always wondered about that. Seems to be an inherent flaw in the technology.

[soothsayer]

2. Sounds like a 90 day time lag. So did the enemy carry off the

crash remains so they can steal our technology?

[monktonman]

4. I wonder about that too.

These drones are armed with missiles. What happens whenthey crash? Do they sometimes blow up? Also, these missiles will probably be a new IED next week.

[seriousstan]

7. No more delay than a satellite phone call. Probably less

considering these wold be routed by private, dedicated satellites.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

10. On data links? Sure.

Satellite data communications can have as much as a 450ms lag in data communications. This is why people with "broadband" satellite dishes are always somewhat unhappy with their service. Getting the data and the images to sync, to make controlling the aircraft more "real-timey" has got to be a problem as well.

But, controlling the drones from Nellis probably sounded like a good idea at the time, in the 5-sided puzzle palace. I mean, who wants to go to Iraq or Afghanistan, right?

[Kagemusha]

11. Thanks, that's exactly the details I suspected here.

Actually 450ms doesn't seem that bad. Except for the real time control issue. That makes it bad when things go awry. The cost of doing business.

And you're right, it's not like they want to go to Iraq themselves.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

13. 24 hours lag time

It crosses the International Date Line

:rofl:



I'm sorry-- it was an easy one, so I went for it.

[ConcernedCanuk]

3. Pretty scary reality - the USA controlling airborne weapons remotely

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That's more of a threat than Saddam ever was in my mind

[RedSock]

5. remote control

"controlled remotely"

---

uh oh.

shouldn't the mods move this to the 9/11 folder toot sweet?

only looney conspiracy wackos believe in remote control

:sarcasm:

[ConcernedCanuk]

8. "only looney conspiracy wackos believe in remote control"

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.
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well, count me in then

MY "terrarist" worries are about those south of our border -

not about some radicals on the other side of the globe

[RebelOne]

6. My cousin is the head engineer for the Predator program.

I'll have to ask him about this.

[Kagemusha]

12. No need, it's scientific certainty - distance = lag

Satellites obviously minimize it but, the lag will exist, as someone else mentions on this thread. And like I replied, it's just the cost of doing business. You're trading this problem for all the long list of issues created by using manned aircraft. My general disdain for the way the Iraq war has been conducted aside, I don't think Predators are bad by any means, but they are different, and like any tool, are only as good as the assumptions that go into design and the skill and wisdom of the user.

[Gregorian]

9. So that means we can expect the same, here. Folks.

Not to mention that now I will never be the same, wondering if the idiot driving next to me just bombed a village in another country. Great. And remember, if you work, you paid for it. Great. I am so thrilled with our amoral intelligence. I want to fucking scream.

Just wait until the world is filled with these, flying everywhere. Do you see it? Can you imagine that?