Drones, The New Generation

(An article published in the April issue of Jane's Defense Weekly)

 

"During the nineties, while fielding their MQ-1 Predator, General Atomics initiated work, under a cloak of utter secrecy, on a much more advanced UCAV design. After close to twenty years in development, the prototype was unveiled two days ago, stunning observers and shocking the competition. Integrating such advanced technologies as anti-gravity lift and ion propulsion with a sophisticated flight control system using thrust vectoring, differential lift and air-brakes, the UCAV is a highly maneuverable, fully autonomous gun platform with full hover and extreme skid capability. The company claims that the drone can fire not only the turret gun but also its fixed cannon at virtually any angle to the line of flight and hit targets with computer-controlled precision while itself remaining extremely hard to hit, making it, in the words of the spokesperson "the ultimate gunship." Standing in sharp contrast with these technical innovations, its armament is comprised of two of the oldest items in the US arsenal: the M61 Vulcan and the M2 Browning, which could almost be qualified as an anachronism. However, judging from the absence of a cartridge ejection port for the Vulcan and other hints, there is good reason to believe that the cannon is a dummy installed for demonstration purposes only and that the production series will come with weaponry of a much more exotic nature, perhaps still in development, such as excimer laser cannon. But even as is the drone unquestionably sets a new standard for the industry. Comparing it to its ancestor the MQ-1, with whom it shares a common airframe but little else, makes the latter at once seem antiquated. But then its very name 'Predator,' with its double meaning only now becoming apparent, points to the fact that it wasn't ever meant to be anything else than a stepping stone in the developmental line, predating the attainment of what had been the company's true objective from the very beginning!"

 

 

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