RQ-11: Drawing Raves
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RQ-11, Baghdad
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The Raven is a 4.2-pound, backpackable, hand-launched sensor platform that provides day and night, real-time video imagery for “over the hill” and “around the corner” reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition. Each Raven system typically consists of 3 aircraft, a ground control station, system spares, and related services
As a measure of its success,
The 3,000th RQ-11A Raven vehicle rolled of the production line back in March 2006. U.S. armed forces use Ravens extensively for missions such as base security, route reconnaissance, mission planning and force protection. According to the U.S. Army, Ravens were flown for approximately
150,000 combat hours in 2007
The same reasons behind the Raven’s Iraqi success also apply in CENTCOM’s first theater of war
Useful at the battalion level, but so simple to operate that one of the best pilots in the Iraqi theater was a cook.
Ideal for quick peeks to see what’s on the other side of obstructed terrain – like a city block in Iraq, or Afghanistan’s hills and mountains.
Switch-in IR cameras that some called better than an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter’s (presumably the one in TADS/PVNS, not the updated
Arrowhead).
Small and unobtrusive (wingspan just over 4 feet, weight just over 4 pounds), with low noise signature relative to larger UAVs.
So small, in fact, that it can easily be carried by Special Forces scouts and squads.
No letters to write if the aircraft goes down
While some Ravens have been shot down, StrategyPage says the most common cause of loss is losing the communications link or a software/hardware failure on the aircraft. It also reports that troops in Afghanistan have taken to putting a translated label on each Raven, noting that a reward will be given to anyone who returns them to the Americans. Several lost Ravens have actually been recovered this way
שימו לב לכמות שיוצרה ולכמות הגיחות.
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