New Armed Stealth Drone Heads to Afghanistan (And Maybe Iran, Too)

By: David Axe

The U.S. Air Force is sending a single copy of a brand-new stealth drone to
Afghanistan. Only maybe not just Afghanistan.
Officially, the General Atomics-made Avenger — a sleek, jet-powered upgrade
of the iconic armed Predator and Reaper — is heading to Afghanistan as a
combat-capable “test
asset.” The Air Force said in a statement that it loves how the Avenger’s
“internal weapons bay and four hardpoints on each wing,” will give it “greater
flexibility and will accommodate a large selection of next generation sensor and
weapons payloads,” as reported by Zach Rosenberg at Flightglobal.
Problem is, you don’t really need those things in Afghanistan. Internal
weapons bays, which hide the radar signatures of bombs and missiles, are for
stealth: most warplanes don’t have them. And it’s not like the Taliban has been
firing radar-guided missiles at NATO aircraft. Besides, there are already dozens
of armed drones in Afghanistan. One more isn’t going to make much of a
difference.
Which begs the question: Is the 41-foot-long Avenger really meant for
Afghanistan? Or is it destined to patrol over Afghanistan’s unruly neighbors,
Iran and Pakistan, both of which do have radar-guided missiles? That
was a job assigned to the Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel before one of those
drones crashed
in Iran two weeks ago. We’re sure the Air Force has a few more RQ-170s to
throw at Iran and Pakistan. After all, the elusive ‘bots have been spotted in
Afghanistan, South Korea and Japan. But the Avenger, which debuted just
two years ago, is newer and more capable than the Sentinel, which is widely
believed to be a product of the early 2000s.



The Avenger reportedly carries a ground-mapping radar and the same
ultra-sophisticated cameras as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, making it a
perfect candidate for quietly snooping above, say, suspected nuclear facilities
or terrorist camps guarded by air-defense radars and missiles. And for a
psychological impact, there’s nothing like an advanced, armed stealth drone to
put a dent in Iran’s swagger after Tehran captured an apparently intact
RQ-170.
To be clear: The Air Force isn’t sending the Avenger to Afghanistan
specifically in response to the Iranian drone capture. The flying branch
initiated the Avenger purchase back in July, long before we saw the Iranian
military on YouTube apparently poking at a dinged-up
Sentinel in what appears to be a high
school gymnasium.
It’s also not a sure bet that the Avenger would even see action in
Afghanistan. The air war over Afghanistan is
winding down, big time. NATO warplanes dropped just 310 bombs last month,
compared to 866 in November 2010, according to U.S. Central Command.
High-tech drone reinforcements are a more natural fit for
escalating surveillance operations over Iran and Pakistan than for the
Afghanistan war.
The Air Force purchase is apparently the first for the Avenger. The
swept-wing General Atomics robot is compatible with the same ground-based
control systems as the Predator and Reaper (and possibly the RQ-170, as well).
It’s likely the Avenger will simply slot into existing Air Force drone
squadrons.
Along with Boeing’s X-45C and Northrop Grumman’s X-47B, the Avenger
represents the likely backbone of the Air Force’s and Navy’s future
killer-drone fleets. But first, the Avenger will ply its secret trade over
Iran and Pakistan
Afghanistan. Totally.

Photo: General Atomics



http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/12/stealth-drone-afghanistan/