After unveiling plans on Monday to cut manned fighters and double the U.S. Air Force’s fleet of armed Predator (pictured) and Reaper drones, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs vice James Cartwright dropped a bombshell. From now on, they said on Tuesday, Reapers would be considered fighters, alongside F-15s, F-16s, F-22s and F-35s. The new designation acknowledges Reaper’s F-16-class payload, sophisticated sensors and weapons and long loiter time … and helps legitimize the emerging robotic Air Force.
Now we have a preview of how that robotic force might look. The inestimable Steve Trimble reports that General Atomics, which makes Predators and Reapers, has just flown the prototype of a jet-powered follow-on to Reaper, called “Predator C.” The new drone reportedly has some stealth qualities.
Along with the Navy’s UCAS-D stealth drone, Predator C represents the next big step in high-performance robotic fighters. We’ve glimpsed the future of U.S. air power, and it’s looking less and less like an F-22, and more like the lanky bot pictured above.
(Photo: BW Jones)
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Don`t forget guys if the Uk are pouring money into a stealth uav fighter/bomber call taranis , what the hell are the USAF upto ??
I guarantee their is some secret developmental planes near frontline readiness .