Weaponised Predator Tested

During Operation Allied Force in Kosovo, the General Atomics Predator unmanned air vehicle (UAV) helped locate mobile and time-critical ground targets. Now the US Air Force is considering options to increase its capability to strike those targets--a weaponised UAV is one such option.

The video shows an Air Force Predator flying at low altitude above the Nellis Air Force Base (Nevada) firing a Lockheed Martin AGM-114C Hellfire laser-guided anti-tank missile at a stationary, unmanned tank. The UAV used a line-of-sight communications link to guide the missile to the target. The Hellfire "heavily damaged" the tank, the air force said.

The mission was the last of three phase I Predator weaponisation feasibility flight tests that began on 16 February. The air force is preparing to begin phase II testing, which will involve flying at more realistic operational altitudes and firing a Hellfire K missile at a moving ground target.

Video: http://www.janes.com:8080/ramgen/jdw/helloshot3.rm