Attack helicopters and robotic planes, in combination, can be extremely hazardous to an insurgent's health. In 14 months, one copter-and-drone crew has killed over 2,400 bomb-planters. The indefatigable Michael Yon offers the most detailed look I've seen yet at how the manned and unmanned aircraft work together, to lethal effect. Step one: Let the pilots finish up their round of Guitar Hero.
The bombers were being watched. Invisible to them, prowling far overhead, was a Predator.
The Predator is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) whose eye sees through the darkness... I often watch the live feed streaming down into the Tactical Operations Centers (TOC) around Iraq, while crosshairs track the enemy, and the screen lists data such as altitude, azimuth, ground speed, and the precise grid coordinates of the target. The Predator carries a deadly Hellfire missile, but also has other weapons, like the crosshairs on its eye, which links down to soldiers watching the video and data feed. The soldiers have radios to other soldiers with massive arrays of weapons. With that combination, every weapon in the US arsenal can be brought into action...
The Predator peered down on the terrorists planting the bomb. There were too many targets for one Hellfire missile, and it’s better to conserve the weapon when possible, since the Predator must fly far to reload.
More from WIRED...