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| Amber (Parsch, 2004) |
The Amber is the drone
that eventually became our modern-day Predator drone. It was developed in the
mid-1980s for the DoD by Abe Karem, an aerospace engineer who immigrated from
Israel to the U.S. The Amber was equipped with retractable tricycle landing
gear for conventional take-off and landing from a runway. It used a rear
mounted two-blade pusher propeller with a 65-horsepower piston engine with an
inverted-V design for the tail (Parsch, 2004). The bulged nose held a daylight
television camera and a Forward-Looking Infrared system, FLIR, and used a
two-way data link for ground communications allowing the pilots to see via the
imagery from the camera in the nose (Parsch, 2004). Its maximum endurance was 38 hours, a range
of 120 nautical miles, a ceiling of 25,000 feet and a maximum speed of 125 mph
(Parsch, 2004).
The Amber was modified
into the GNAT 750 in the late 1990s (Potts, 2012). It featured satellite and
manned aircraft relayed communication, the first of its kind (Potts,
2012). The GNAT 750 was further modified
into the configuring we know now, the Predator.
The Predator featured a
larger fuselage, extended wings and a bigger propulsions system. It has more than 40 hours of endurance, a
range of 150 nautical miles, a maximum ceiling of 50,000 feet and a maximum
speed of 135 mph (Predator RQ-1, n.d.).
The electronics in the nose are able to be swapped based on the mission.
They include electro-optical and infrared cameras, synthetic aperture radar,
two-color television camera with variable zoom, a FLIR, a laser designator and
ranger finder, electronic countermeasures and a moving target indicator
(Predator RQ-1, n.d.). A large change
over the Amber is it can be loaded with two Hellfire anti-armor missiles linked
to the moving target indicator system as well as all optical sensors (Predator
RQ-1, n.d.).
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| Predator (Predator RQ-1, n.d.) |
The two largest changes
between the Amber and the Predator was the addition of munitions and the
satellite communication system. “Predator crews became the first combatants in history able to
spy on and, eventually, kill an enemy from the opposite side of the globe”
(Whittle, 2013). The advancement in cameras and observation
technology has definitely played a role in this, but without the satellite
communication system the operators would need to ne near, and possibly still
line of site as was the case with older UAVs.
The next leap in UAV
technology will be better development of autopilot or artificial intelligence
for drone operation. The more a UAV can do for itself, the
lesser the workload on the operator. “Developments with “artificial intelligence,” (AI) will
better enable unmanned platforms to organize, interpret and integrate functions
independently such as ISR filtering, sensor manipulation, maneuvering,
navigation and targeting adjustments. In essence, emerging computer
technology will better enable drones to make more decisions and perform more
functions by themselves” (Future Drones, 2017).
References:
Future Drones Stealthier,
More Lethal Weapons - 2030s. (2017, October 04). Retrieved October 22, 2017,
from https://scout.com/military/warrior/Article/Special-Future-Drones-Smarter-More-Lethal-Stealthy-101455165
Parsch, A. (2004).
Retrieved October 22, 2017, from http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/amber.html
Potts, A. (2012, December
01). The Dronefather. Retrieved October 22, 2017, from https://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21567205-abe-karem-created-robotic-plane-transformed-way-modern-warfare
Predator RQ-1 / MQ-1 /
MQ-9 Reaper UAV. (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2017, from http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/predator-uav/
Whittle, R. (2013,
April). The Man Who Invented the Predator. Retrieved October 19, 2017, from
https://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/the-man-who-invented-the-predator-3970502/?all
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