OOOps Reaper UAV down
 

Found this thought it might be of interest.
http://www.modoracle.com/news/RAF-De...l?category=all
Is this the most expensive loss to date??
Odd that they sent SBS to remove the important bits, then used a Harrier to destroy the evidence. Would it not have been better for the SBS to set charges and be 100% certain it was destroyed?
Be lucky
David

You are assuming that the men in black had their demolitions kit with them. Seems like they weren't planning to use it, and so didn't have it in their Bergens.

Not much call for it when fighting Terry, perhaps, as he tends to do quite well without first-world infrastructure.

Why couldn't they just chopper it out for repair? They only weigh about LB 10k at mtow, so with the fuel and payload gone surely it could have been retrieved??

Am fairly certain that a Chinook or MH53 could have done the job.

Quote:

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The six-month-old Reaper, flown by a remote pilot

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Whatever happened to everyone all mucking in and having a laugh?

"A team of SBS men was dropped in to the crash site by helicopter to salvage top secret gear ..... "

maybe it was a Lynx?

You can bet the wreck would attract Terry T like flies. Best to get the Clever Bits in your webbing quickly and then tw@t the rest with a bomb. Also, Terry might be a bit wary of getting too close with a GR lurking overhead - gives you time to exfil smartish. We don't know but it might have come down in Terry's back yard; you wouldn't want to f@rt about lifting it out in that situation. Blast the bits and then scarper.

If it was basically still in one piece, I would guess that it would make a very dodgy underslung load as that big, low-speed wing would "fly".

Very true, but a droque 'chute could possibly control that. It is more likely that it was never considered before, but I dare say that JATE are onto it now :E

Ah Yes.:)

"Bloggs, where are the three Reapers I bought?"

"Erm, yes, well Your Airship, one hasn't been delivered just yet, we, erm, blew one up and the other was sort of pickled off a Chinook on trials with JATE Sire".

Making Sense...?
 

Okay, let's see if I've got this one right:

UAVs are good because they don't hazard our people, and replace more expensive manned aircraft.

So.... when one gets shot down, we have to send a helicopter (expensive) to deliver special forces personnel (expensive) to the crash site (dangerous) to recover kit we don't want bad guys to get while being covered by a Harrier (really expensive) which then uses a PGB (ungodly expensive) to blow the thing up (dangerous).

Is it just me, or is there a flaw in the military thinking here?

It might seem a bit extreme, but perhaps we could have solved more problems than we raised, if we'd left it a day or so, pulled our mates back and then done the job with Trident! :E

Advo

Who picked it up...
 

Just a point of accuracy... it was not the boys in Black. :=

It was in fact the boys in Blue (well deserts actually, but with a blue beret) :D flown there by the boys and girls in blue.

and no doubt protected by the boys in green, flying shotgun as usual

I suppose the downside of being a remote pilot is that you can't see the ice building up on the wings!!!!! So in true procurement style in fixing the problem after the fact, lets start recruiting dwarves. A Top Gun Mini-ME!

g (9.81),

Do you know something we don't ?? Has the BOI announced it's findings yet??

G :confused:

gijoe,

I know naating ( spanish accent ), just idle speculation, rumour and conjecture - but it is a fact that you can't see any ice build up on the wings for that matter !!!!

No it is not.

You are talking hoop.

If the ice detectors go off you just spin the ball to look at the wings. Rocket Science

Jeeves, just watch this a mo whilst I go for a pee..............................................bugger:*