Predator Drones - lag time for operator?

[Wallenstein]

Predator drones are widely used in Iraq and Afghanistan, with the pilots sitting 1000s of miles away in the USA.

Presumably the operators can see in “real time” via video link where the drone is flying, but is there any perceptible “lag” in the image being received? If you’re waiting for a particular moment to hit the “fire” button, even a small delay could mean your target has moved on?

[Quartz]

Assuming the signal goes via satellite, you’re talking a round trip of approx 144 million meters, so 1/2 second. But we’re not talking of dogfighting, and ordnance can have a modicum of intelligence. And structures don’t move anyway.

[Wallenstein]

@Quartz

Assuming the signal goes via satellite, you’re talking a round trip of approx 144 million meters, so 1/2 second. But we’re not talking of dogfighting, and ordnance can have a modicum of intelligence. And structures don’t move anyway.

I was think more cars / trucks etc. Someone driving at 80mph might move a bit in 0.5s. I guess they have gizmos to lock onto targets so the missile knows what it’s meant to be hitting.

[Loach]

@Wallenstein

Predator drones are widely used in Iraq and Afghanistan, with the pilots sitting 1000s of miles away in the USA.

Presumably the operators can see in “real time” via video link where the drone is flying, but is there any perceptible “lag” in the image being received? If you’re waiting for a particular moment to hit the “fire” button, even a small delay could mean your target has moved on?

You are assuming that the drones that are loaded with weapons are flown by pilots far away. The vast majority of drones are used for recon only and are not armed.

[Ravenman]

@Loach

You are assuming that the drones that are loaded with weapons are flown by pilots far away. The vast majority of drones are used for recon only and are not armed.

But Preds are indeed flown at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, as well as a few other US locations, with the exception of takeoffs and landings, in which control is handed off to operators within line of sight, precisely because of the lag issue.

[CutterJohn]

The Predator has only ever been armed with Hellfire missiles, which are guided, so if the target moves, no biggy. They can hit moving targets just fine. Its not like a slow moving ground vehicle is going to fool the locking software, and even a 500ms ping is short enough to anticipate situations where it could possibly happen, such as a target nearing a cave entrance or something.

[Loach]

@Ravenman

But Preds are indeed flown at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, as well as a few other US locations, with the exception of takeoffs and landings, in which control is handed off to operators within line of sight, precisely because of the lag issue.

The armed ones are not operated by the Air Force. Do you know where they are flown from? I don’t/

[smithsb]

Predators (AF) or Warriors (ARMY) are armed with Hellfires on flights in the two theaters unless the mission dictates - No (perhaps surveillance only). Don’t know where you received the “AF not armed” information. Other agencies also fly these larger UAVs. You’re starting to head into classified territory by the way.

[Loach]

@smithsb

Predators (AF) or Warriors (ARMY) are armed with Hellfires on flights in the two theaters unless the mission dictates - No (perhaps surveillance only). Don’t know where you received the “AF not armed” information. Other agencies also fly these larger UAVs. You’re starting to head into classified territory by the way.

Nothing that isn’t on Wikipedia. Which by the way has a picture of people piloting them from a control room in Iraq. No very classified if it is in the first cite when searched from Google.

[Ravenman]

@Loach

The armed ones are not operated by the Air Force. Do you know where they are flown from? I don’t/

MQ-9 Reapers are most certainly flown by the Air Force, from Creech.

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123071527

10/11/2007 - WASHINGTON – The Air Force announced today that the service’s new hunter-killer unmanned aerial vehicle is now flying operational missions in Afghanistan. The MQ-9 Reaper has completed 12 missions since its inaugural flight there Sept. 25, averaging about one sortie per day. Capable of striking enemy targets with on-board weapons, the Reaper has conducted close air support and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. . . .

Like the MQ-1 Predator, the Reaper is launched, recovered and maintained at deployed locations, while being remotely operated by pilots and sensor operators at Creech Air Force Base, Nev.

And also…

Armchair pilots striking Afghanistan by remote control - CNN.com

CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nevada (CNN) – From a desert outpost northwest of Las Vegas, elite fighter pilots journey to a war zone in Afghanistan, some 7,500 miles away. . . .
For over a year, Reapers have been flying two separate round-the-clock patrols over eastern Afghanistan, controlled from the Creech AFB command center, which has been strictly off-limits to the media until now.

Reaper pilots so far this year have launched 64 missiles and dropped seven 500-pound bombs in Afghanistan.

[smithsb]

@Loach

Nothing that isn’t on Wikipedia. Which by the way has a picture of people piloting them from a control room in Iraq. No very classified if it is in the first cite when searched from Google.

Sorry, wasn’t clear about what might be classified.

Classified data: Which missions are armed, how many and what type of armament (not just missiles anymore), which agency is operating the drone, which base it/they (the UAV) are flying from, where to, how long a mission, mission profiles, time of launch. Other minutiae.

Not classified: Creech, drones locally controlled (in theater) for takeoff and recovery, theaters operated in (Iraq, Afghanistan, US), some approximate capabilities, Wiki stuff.

Previous thread, don’t have cite right now, I mentioned local control of drones for landing, flight to mission start, and recovery. I think the thread was about what it takes to be a drone pilot and were Gamers good candidates.