Wonder if there is still any chance of getting work for the team reaper UAV (for international manufacture) or if it was all tied to the AusGov buy here? I like the scene in Borne Legacy.
How realistic was the drone attack in the Bourne Legacy?
Tom Farrier, Retired USAF command pilot; more than half my career in aviation safety Answered Jul 23 2013 · Author has 2.7k answers and 12.7m answer views
It's kind of a mixed bag, accuracy-wise. Like Daniel said, the main Hollywoodism in the scene is the close air support-style strafing run; battlefield support resources like a Predator or Reaper are far too valuable to risk losing to lucky ground fire, and part of their value is in their virtual silence and invisibility when operating at their customary altitudes.
Given that Air Force RPAs (their preferred term) typically work from on high, their sensors are optimized to work best from high altitude as well. While the Palomar Observatory's 200-inch telescope can provide breathtaking astronomical views, it wouldn't be very effective if pulled from its mount and put to use trying to watch a drive-in movie twenty miles away. Similarly, if you wanted to give away all of the operational advantages you have in favor of putting fear in your enemies by diving down on them with a Reaper (which is pretty damned big), you probably wouldn't be able to bring your best optics to bear on your target.
(My personal preference in this scenario would be a small hovering-type unmanned aircraft moving into an enemy's field of view with a little sign on it saying "Peekaboo." I'd then drop the Hellfire missile on them or, even better, have a cute little Derringer-type pistol pop out of the tiny drone and fire a single massively destructive shot, a la Daffy Duck.)
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7.9¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
