Global Hawk to fly 1st mission over U.S. (First official Air Combat Command mission in US skies)

[Robbien]

BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - They've become a fixture in the skies over Iraq and Afghanistan, a new breed of unmanned aircraft operated with remote controls by "pilots" sitting in virtual cockpits many miles away.

<snip>

"This landmark flight has historic implications since it's the first time a Global Hawk has not only flown from Beale, but anywhere in the United States on an official Air Combat Command mission," base spokesman Capt. Michael Andrews said in a statement.

Beale-based pilots are flying the drones daily on combat missions in the Middle East, Andrews said. The planes are operated by four-person crews from virtual cockpits the size of shipping containers.

The planes are designed to fly at high altitudes for 40 hour-missions covering as much as 10,000 miles, mostly providing aerial surveillance. The aircraft, which can cost more than $80 million each, can reach an altitude of 65,000 feet and send back high-resolution imagery.

The Hawks are among a growing fleet of unmanned aircraft that also includes the missile-carrying Predators and five-pound Ravens that are small enough to be carried in soldiers' backpacks.

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/16053116.htm

Bringing the war home.

[acmejack]

1. Doesn't bother saying WTF it will be doing

What will it be up to, I wonder?

[Bigmack]

3. Traffic reports on the freeways....

...of course. Goodbye, Chopper Dave and the Channel 8 Traffic Watch.

[leveymg]

5. Training exercise. Oops, Chopper Dave just got shot down

Hey, who loaded the thing with live ammo!?

[Crim_n al]

9. Aerial surveillance is what it does.

The question is who do they need to keep tabs on this way in America?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

10. all of us.

unfortunately.

I wonder if two years is two years too many. Wait. I know the answer to that one!

[Gregorian]

2. That give me a very disturbing and unhappy feeling.

This is like a nightmare I had once. Running from combat machinery.

I want energy independence.
I want health care.
I want high quality education.
I do not want...oh, just see my sig.

[Kip Humphrey]

4. EVERYONE: Look up and say C-H-E-E-S-E!

[Bigmack]

13. Everybody look up and wag yer weinie...nt

nt

[Wiley50]

6. Can You Say Marijuana Eradication n/t

[Bruce McAuley]

7. Border patrol is my guess.

From California they could patrol both the southern as well as the northern borders for a fair length.
Equipped with passive infrared/thermal sensors they can see everything the size of a dog andbigger, I suspect.
They already fly the northern border with small twin jet aircraft flying as high as they can with infrared sensors, they can see every vehicle that gets within 25 to 50 miles away, and track them every time they fly over, which can be a couple times an hour.
You live near the border, you'll see them, is my guess.

Bruce

[msongs]

8. as said earlier, this is NOTHING new....

military airplanes have been crisscossing the USA for 80 years, with the ability to spy on us the whole time.

any airplane has that capability is so enacted. A U2 or SR 71 may already have taken pictures of your backyard a thousand times.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

[Porcupine]

11. They've been using U-2's for domestic overflights for years

I see them all the time. You have no privacy and no rights. Welcome to America.

[IndianaGreen]

12. Are they going to be firing missiles too?

How far is our military willing to go to scare us all shitless?

[stepnw1f]

14. Police State.... ?

Fuck that buddy! Take the fucker down NOW!

[LynnTheDem]

15. Saddam has DRONES! We must INVADE and DESTROY Iraq!!!

Irony isn't dead.

[Solo_in_MD]

16. BS....

GH has been flying on a wide number of mission here in the US for years.