UAVs & UCAVs

STLCards002

New Member
Can I get a little help on this topic please?
I know that the US Military uses UAVs...but I can't seem to find a definative answer on UCAVs.
Do we have an specific UCAVs being used as of today?
I'm confused because there are UAVs that have dropped bombs, I believe, so are they considered UCAVs?
Please a little help. And if you use another site for info could you give me that link.
 
A

Aussie Digger

Guest
Can I get a little help on this topic please?
I know that the US Military uses UAVs...but I can't seem to find a definative answer on UCAVs.
Do we have an specific UCAVs being used as of today?
I'm confused because there are UAVs that have dropped bombs, I believe, so are they considered UCAVs?
Please a little help. And if you use another site for info could you give me that link.
The definition I suppose equates to: UAV, unmanned aerial vehicle with no specific combat role other than surveillance/recon/battlefield comms relay etc.

UCAV: unmanned combat air vehicle, relates to an aircraft which has a direct combat role, ie: the ability to employ munitions in a combat role.

As far as I am aware, the only current UCAV's in-service are the MQ-1 "Predator" and the MQ-9 "Reaper" which possess the ability to employ missiles and bombs to varying degrees.

The MQ-1 can employ laser guided Hellfire missiles.

The USAF fact sheet on the MQ-1 Predator can be found here:

http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=122

The M1-9 Reaper can employ laser guided Hellfire missiles, laser guided GBU-12 bombs and the GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM).

The USAF fact sheet is here:

http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=6405

Hope this helps.

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