Though I wouldn't worry about the U.S. shooting down passenger planes with missiles you can just expect countries like, Iran, possibly Russia and North Korea and possibly others to start to shoot down planes if they feel it is politically to their advantage anywhere on earth.
This is one reason I was concerned about weaponized drones because they can be mobile missile launching platforms like the Reaper that can fly at 50,000 feet in altitude. Just imagine this technology in the hands of the wrong people worldwide and basically grounding all passenger planes on earth.
The Reaper right now can fly at 50,000 feet and carry 4 Hellfire missiles (after watching the video I'm correcting this figure to 4 from 14. The article below is incorrect. It can't carry 14 but it can carry 4 hellfire missiles or several 500 pound bombs. Basically, anything that moves on the ground or in the air can be shot down and eliminated except maybe a destroyer or battleship on the ocean.
I figure 10 to 20 of these things worldwide stationed at 50,000 feet could ground literally all passenger planes on earth possibly permanently. This is the real problem regarding the future of drones in the wrong hands. (non-democratic hands). If countries that don't respect the rights of all people on earth have these things, passenger planes won't fly anymore without being blown out of the sky.
begin quote:
The Terrifying Reaper That Shoots Hellfire from 50,000 Feet
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The
General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper is our military's premiere hunter-killer
platform, sniping at targets from 50,000 feet in the sky. Except instead
of bullets, it shoots Hellfire missiles. And with its most recent
upgrades, the MQ-9 makes other drones look about as effective as Elmer
Fudd.
The MQ-9
has been developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) and
grew out of the highly-successful Predator drone program and first
deployed in 2007 over Afghanistan. The Reaper can operate as an
autonomous UAV or be commanded remotely by a pilot operating in at a
ground control station. Although it is designed primarily as a
hunter/killer deployed against high-value, time-sensitive, or mobile
targets, the MQ-9 can also be used as an effective high-altitude,
long-endurance surveillance platform. As such, it's become a very
popular choice among Federal agencies—the US Air Force, Navy, CIA,
Customs and Border Patrol all own and operate Reapers, as do our allies,
the British Royal Air Force and the Italian Air Force. In fact,
beginning in 2008, the New York Air National Guard 174th Fighter Wing
became the first fighter squadron to operate only UAVs when they
transitioned from F-16 piloted fighters to the $36.8 million
remote-controlled MQ-9.
According
to former USAF Chief of Staff General T. Michael Moseley, "We've moved
from using UAVs primarily in intelligence, surveillance, and
reconnaissance roles before Operation Iraqi Freedom, to a true
hunter-killer role with the Reaper." In addition, Reapers have also
found roles in close air support, search and rescue, overwatch, and
convoy protection—basically anything that involves targets being watched
or blown up or both.
With a
50,000 foot operational ceiling the MQ-9 is considered a Medium Altitude
Long Endurance UAV and represents a significant improvement over its
Predator predecessor, which often required strategic compromises between
its payload capacity, speed, altitude, and flight duration to complete
missions successfully. The Reaper's 950SHP Honeywell TP331-10 engine
provides a 230MPH cruising speed and a range of 1,000 nautical miles
while toting a 800-pound internal payload and up to 3,000 pounds of
external ordnance. This can include up to 14 Hellfire missiles—compared
to the Predator's two—or various combinations of the GBU-12 Paveway II
laser-guided bomb, the AIM-9 Sidewinder, or the GBU-38 JDAM. Using
low-signature armarments like these allow the drone to attack without
revealing its position overhead. The Air Force is also currently testing
the use of Stinger air-to-air missiles aboard the Reaper for those
times when it needs to, you know, shoot down other planes.
Even when
carrying the maximum number of weapons, the Reaper can stay aloft for
over 14 hours. If it needs to loiter longer, a pair of 1,000 pound
external fuel tanks can be installed to push the Reaper's air time to a
staggering 42 hours.
But before
the MQ-9 can use this impressive armory, it first needs to find its
quarry. To that end, the Reaper employs wide-area radar like the Lynx II
SAR in conjunction with the Raytheon AN/AAS-52 multi-spectral targeting
sensor suite and an MTS-B 20-inch EO/IR gimbal implanted in the
underside of the UAV's nose. This allows the Reaper a wide field of
vision that can scan, "spot", and focus in on specific targets of
interest.
An L-3
Communications Tactical Common Datalink transmits video and telemetry
data back to the three-man team (rated pilot, enlisted sensor operator,
and mission coordinator) including color/monochrome daylight TV,
infrared, and image-intensified TV with a laser rangefinder/target
designator.
The newest
iteration of MQ-9, dubbed the MQ-9 Reaper Block 1-plus, made its
aeronautical debut on May 24 at General Atomics' Gray Butte Flight
Operations Facility in Palmdale, California. The 1-plus is more
powerful, more secure, better armed, and stronger than earlier versions.
Oh yeah, and it can land itself without a pilot's input.
Its new
high-capacity alternator (plus the addition of a backup generator)
produces more current and grants the 1-plus a greater gross takeoff
weight (11,700 pounds up from 10,500), a higher payload capacity, and
the ability to carry more and bigger bombs. Its new dual ARC-210 VHF/UHF
radios allow it to securely communicate with multiple parties both in
the air and on the ground while boosting its data transfer pipeline. And
stronger landing gear ensures that the Reaper won't break under the
strain of all those extra explosives when touching down.
"We
continue to enhance the capabilities of our aircraft, improving their
performance to meet emerging customer requirements," said Frank Pace,
president, Aircraft Systems Group, GA-ASI in a press statement. "The
first flight of the MQ-9 Block 1-plus follows in the footsteps of the
aircraft's combat-proven Block 1 configuration and is an important
technological achievement that will provide increased effectiveness,
increased multi-mission flexibility, and even greater reliability." In
all, the Air Force is spending $87 million to upgrade the 80 Reapers
it's received in the last two years. [Defense Update 1, 2, 3 - Wikipedia - Air Force]
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