How much do predator drones cost

Perhaps, given a clean sheet, the Air Force will succeed in procuring a smarter, high-tech, low-cost, long-endurance drone it can buy in large numbers and afford to lose, a cheaper Reaper to get the job done. This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here. More From Forbes. Nov 11, , am EST. Nov 10, , pm EST. Nov 10, , am EST. Nov 9, , pm EST. Edit Story. I'm a South London-based technology journalist, consultant and author.

The U. An American Bomber Visited Malaysia. Follow me on Twitter. Check out my website or some of my other work here. David Hambling. Also, it features a more powerful engine and carries a much greater payload.

The MQ-9 has a wingspan of 66 feet, is 36 feet long, On February 20, , the Reaper reached the one million flight hour mark having flown 78, sorties since its maiden flight on February 2, The Reaper ER has an endurance of up to 42 hours flying without external stores. The main difference between the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper is the size, mission, payload, speed and range see specs at the end of this page.

The Reaper is mainly used as an attack UAV hunter killer and thus carries significantly more ordnance see armament info below. The Predator's primary role is ISR. On the Reaper, Hellfire missiles are carried on stations 2 and 6 middle wing stations.

Stations 3 and 5 can only carry bombs, while stations 2 and 6 can carry either bombs or the MP launcher with missiles. A year MQ-9 production forecast is available through Forecast International's Platinum Forecast System , which includes a breakout of total market unit and value statistics by manufacturer and end-user.

This real-time service also includes information on all prime and subcontractors, contract awards, worldwide inventories, a complete program history, and a rationale detailing the outlook of the program. The MQ-1 Predator provides the U. Army with a long-endurance, persistent ISR and tactical strike capability. They were almost out of fuel, 6, miles away from their home in Denver, and had no way of calling for help. The brothers decided they had no choice but to ditch their Blue Bird , a borrowed four-passenger Tri-Pacer, somewhere on the remote flatlands of southern Brazil.

In , the heyday of the hero aviator was well within living memory. The wealthy, good-looking Yale undergrads were on a South American aerial marathon covering 25, miles in days while crossing the Andes a dozen times. With a few exceptions—turbulence over El Salvador, thunderstorms in Colombia and severe icing in Chile—their trip had been smooth sailing until that fateful September day.

The crash-landing was terrifying. Unbelievably, the Blue Brothers walked away unscathed. The Blue brothers grew up in one of the wealthiest families in Denver right after the Great Depression. In Virginia ran as a Republican for state treasurer and became the first woman elected to a statewide position in Colorado.

She died in in the midst of her reelection campaign; the state dedicated a stained-glass window at the Capitol building to her memory. Long before they became press shy both Blue brothers refused repeated requests for comment on this story and neither have given a substantive interview in over a decade , the Blue brothers were publicity hounds.

The Life cover came a year later, after the brothers pitched their South American excursion to magazine editors nationwide. He spent 12 days in jail before he was expelled to the United States. After graduating from Yale, the brothers both enlisted in the U.