1/48 Bronco Model USAF MQ/RQ-1 Predator UAV
The first one UAV in my collection. Thanks to my modeler from sandakan ( The man that build my T69 II). The bronco model is new kit model that I have in my collection. so we go to the detail of this UAV. The Predator Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) designated RQ-1,
was launched in January 1994 as an Advanced Concept Technology
Demonstration (ACTD). The armed version that followed the RQ-1
was designated MQ-1. The design was based on a modified Gnat
750 UAV built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. (The
Gnat does not have the Ku Band satellite link). The US Air Force
received its first Predators in 1994, and deployed them for
the first time over Bosnia between 1995-6. Since then, Predators
were operated by both USAF and the Central Intelligence Agency,
designated RQ-1A.
Following successful integration of Hellfire missiles, an
armed version of Predator was deployed in Afghanistan during
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in 2002. These aircraft are
designated MQ-1. Officially, the Predator A system was declared
"operational" only in 2004, ten years after it began
flying with the US Military. Predator UAVs are currently operated
by the US Air Force and Italian Air Force. By September 2007
the Predator fleet accumulated a total of 300,000 flight hours,
over 80 percent in combat missions and this pace is increasing.
In October 2007 alone, the Predator fleet performed 12,000
hours. More recently the USAF fielded the Reaper,
a larger more capable UAS based on an outgrowth of the Predator
platform.
Sources : http://defense-update.com/products/p/predator.htm
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