Tallil’s Predators on patrol in Iraq

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Daniel DuBois
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
TALLIL AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  Information. Today, it may be the world’s hottest commodity. It is often the key to success in all walks of life: sports, business and definitely, in the military.

The MQ/RQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle has been providing information to the military since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. However, the military wants more than information; it wants information superiority.

The Air Force defines it as the control and exploitation of the information domain. It allows the military to engage any target, anywhere in the world. The Predator has been vital to the military obtaining that information superiority during OIF, officials said.

“The Predator has become a force multiplier,” said Maj. Scott Start, commander of the 64th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron.

According to Start, the Predator has a 600-mile range, 20-hour mission time, and television, infrared and radar sensors. It delivers real-time information, enhancing time-sensitive targeting and battle-damage assessment.

“The Predator has brought us into a new arena of increased awareness in evaluating theater threats and reducing response time to engage enemy activity,” Start said. “Better intelligence, better awareness and more effective war fighting translates into coalition lives saved.”

Air Force Secretary Dr. James G. Roche gave an example of another way the Predator creates effects on the battlefield.

According to Roche, the Predator flew into Baghdad very quietly, so as not to be detected. It located the main Iraqi TV antenna and generator, and destroyed both with a Hellfire missile.

But the Predator was not always part of the Air Force arsenal.

During Desert Storm, near real-time imagery was in short supply, said Capt. Jon Hodge, 64th ERS director of operations. Hodge served as a B-52 Stratofortress pilot during the 1991 Gulf War.

“On my B-52 missions, after six hours of flight en route to a target, we had next to nothing added to the preflight briefing eight hours earlier,” Hodge said. “In flight, we were lucky to have voice updates.”

Hodge explained that the Predator now provides live video directly to commanders and cockpits in every phase of the mission. The effects upon battle-damage assessment are dramatic. They replace long waits, coming so quickly that the original striker could re-attack.

This instant information ultimately leads to a competitive advantage over the enemy – information superiority. The Predator has been a key player throughout OIF in giving American troops information superiority and will continue to do so in the future, he said.