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Well things like the U-2 still exist because they can fly stupid far for a stupid long time at stupid high altitudes and can respond quickly, securely, and quie
by mveety 10y ago
Well things like the U-2 still exist because they can fly stupid far for a stupid long time at stupid high altitudes and can respond quickly, securely, and quietly to intelligence needs. It's hard to fly a UAV deep into enemy territory because they can be more easily seen, more easily shot out of the sky, and require potentially fragile uplinks to operate.
- Alupis 10y ago> It's hard to fly a UAV deep into enemy territory because they can be more easily seen, more easily shot out of the sky, and require potentially fragile uplinks to operate What about an UAV inherently makes them not as good as a U2? I'd wager nothing really... heck, I'm sure U2's have been flown remotely before.
- nradov 10y agoThat's no longer true. The Global Hawk UAV has capabilities similar to a U-2.
- mcguire 10y ago"Factors such as cost per flight hour (CPFH), information gathering rates, mission readiness, adverse weather operational capability, distance to targets, and onboard power still favored the U-2." The U-2 apparently has a higher payload, higher service ceiling, higher mission success rate, and a lower cost per flight hour (maybe). http://aviationweek.com/awin/global-hawk-u-2-duel-resumes-15-budget-fight http://aviationweek.com/awin/global-hawk-u-2-duel-resumes-15...