Without its growing fleet of unmanned aircraft, the Air Force would not be as effective. It's why Predators, Reapers and Global Hawks are in such demand on the battlefield.

Airman Magazine is published bi-monthly by the Air Force News Agency for the Secretary of the Air Force Office of Public Affairs. As the official magazine of the U.S. Air Force, it is a medium of information for Air Force people.

Readers may submit articles, photographs and artwork. The Airman staff welcomes suggestions and criticisms.

4 Unheard, unseen, unstoppable
Without its growing fleet of unmanned aircraft, the Air Force would not be as effective. It’s why Predators, Reapers and Global Hawks are in such demand on the battlefield.

14 For a stronger Eu rope
U.S. Air Forces in Europe commander Gen. Roger A. Brady said maintaining a strong and responsive command means Airmen must earn their wings each day.

20 Thunder over Cold Lake
When guests arrive to fly and train at this remote community, they shatter the peace — but for a good cause.

28 Two countries, one cause
American and Canadian Airmen work to continue their decades-long North American air defense mission.

42 Keeping history alive
At the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, workers and volunteers make sure exhibits change with the times.

Download Airman Magazine, September/October 2008

PDF format, 8.7MB, 50Pages.

On the Cover: As the demand for unmanned aerials systems continues to skyrocket, Airmen like MQ-9 Reaper pilot Captain “Nestor” (right) and sensor operator Sergeant “Tube” are standing on the horizon of an Air Force evolution. The Reapers they fly are making a difference on the battlefield.

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UAS: UNHEARD, UNSEEN, UNSTOPPABLE
by Orville F. Desjarlais Jr. • design by G. Patrick Harris

When the Air Force grounded all of its 700 F-15 Eagles in November 2007, following a mishap, the jet’s firepower was noticeably absent in the war on terrorism for 18 days.

Sometimes the only Air Force bomb-carrying aircraft in Afghanistan during that time didn’t even have pilots in the cockpit. Carrying the load was the service’s deadly MQ-9 Reaper UAS, or unmanned aircraft system.

Able to carry as much as an F-15 or F-16 Fighting Falcon, the Reaper becomes more popular each day in war zones because of the bombs-ontarget capability it provides. And its footprint is small: Reaper operators fly the unmanned aircraft from half a world away.

Today, the Air Force must operate with unmanned aircraft systems, and they are now part of the way the Air Force does business, from launching bombs in support of ground troops to providing realtime reconnaissance.

While some in the pilot community eyes the unmanned aircraft with apprehension, the new systems are the most-requested assets in Iraq and Afghanistan.

When the first of the unmanned aircraft, the RQ-1 Predator, became operational in March 2005, it only provided real-time “eyes in the sky” reconnaissance capability. But its success spawned the hunter-killer Reaper and the high-flying, long-range, reconnaissancegathering RQ-4 Global Hawk.

The advantage unmanned aircraft systems have over manned aircraft is the human element. Pilots need breaks. Unmanned aircraft can fly from 20 to 30 hours without stopping. They all can “loiter” over an area for hours on end, thwarting developing enemy operations that could kill friendly forces. But that’s only one advantage.

The Air Force continues to exploit each aircraft’s capabilities — seemingly only limited by the users’ imagination. The Air Force use of unmanned aircraft systems is still in evolution. As Charles Darwin once said: It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.

The following pages highlight the Air Force’s main unmanned aircraft systems: Predator, Global Hawk and Reaper. Think of it as Unmanned Aircraft Systems 101.

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