UAVs give bird’s-eye view of battle

[unhappycamper]

Pvt. Laquay Harvey, an unmanned aerial vehicle crew chief assigned to the 504th Military Intelligence Company, recovers a Shadow 200 UAV at a small runway on Forward Operating Base Kalsu. The 504th, deployed from Grafenwoehr, Germany, can provide the 172nd Infantry Brigade an around- the-clock birds-eye view with the Shadow.


UAVs give bird’s-eye view of battle
By Steve Mraz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, February 23, 2009

FORWARD OPERATION BASE KALSU, Iraq — The whine of propellers can be heard around the clock on this sprawling base south of Baghdad.

The aircraft soaring above don’t have pilots or munitions on board. They are unmanned aerial vehicles, providing an eye in the sky for commanders and troops on the ground.

Soldiers with the 504th Military Intelligence Company provide the 172nd Infantry Brigade with a fleet of remote-controlled aircraft. At about 350 pounds, the Shadow 200 — with a new and improved camera — can remain in the air for hours, offering a near real-time video feed.

"We can cover the whole battle space from this location," said Sgt. 1st Class Lucas Johnson, Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems platoon sergeant.

"If the brigade commander has some target development he wants to work on or see if there are actually (Iraqi security forces) where they are supposed to be, they can send us rather than having to send out a convoy rolling on the ground looking for stuff and have them potentially getting blown up."


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60911



uhc comment: Naturally, I couldn't find any $$$ on what these bad boys cost.

[Angleae]

1. Found price tag on globalsecurity.org

"Procurement cost for the Command and Control Suite, as well as two units of the Shadow 200 run at approximately $36 million. individual units of the Shadow 200 run at about $275,000 apiece."

http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/systems/shadow.htm

[unhappycamper]

2. Thank you. n/t