"Contemporary drones introduce an unparalleled capacity to see and survey. The use of unmanned aircraft dates back at least to the Vietnam War, and missiles have long been used to target individuals or discrete locations. They started out as fairly basic surveillance aircraft, first used in the mid-1990s in the wars in the former Yugoslavia, but by early 2001, drones were equipped with firepower. Since their first appearances in the war on terror, in the first two years after 9/11, drones have been regarded as a distinctly global resource, the means by which the war on terrorism "goes global." The first-generation Predator, pressed into service after 9/11 in Afghanistan, was armed with two Hellfire missiles that had a limited range of 400 nautical miles. All this changed in 2007 with the second generation Reaper: equipped with four Hellfire missiles as well as two 500lb laser guided bombs, and able to fly over 16 hours fully armed for up to 3200 nautical miles, this new drone is the "first purpose built hunter-killer UAV." The Reaper also has an all-weather, day or night radar, linked to a sensor ball that houses image-intensified and infrared cameras. And even this impressive surveillance ability will pale in comparison to the new generation drone called Gorgon Stare, which will increase the single video feed of the Reaper to 12 and eventually to 65 video feeds, so that "a drone which now stares down at a single house or vehicle could keep constant watch on nearly everything that moves within an area of 1.5 square miles. The year after that, the capability will double to 3 square miles.":
- Nasser Hussain
- Nasser Hussain
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