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RAF and the Reaper
On 9 November 2007, the UK Ministry of Defence announced that its MQ-9 Reapers had begun operations in Afghanistan against the Taliban. On 4 January 2008 it became public that the United Kingdom wants to purchase a further 10 MQ-9 Reapers, giving the Royal Air Force a total fleet of 13 Reaper UAVs.
In April 2008, British special forces were forced to destroy one of the two Reapers operating in Afghanistan to prevent sensitive material falling into the hands of the Taliban after it crash landed.
Its not known if the UK MoD will replace that airframe, especially in light of a new series of armed UAV and UCAV types has been announced. BAE Systems Mantis is in the same class as the Reaper and the Taranis UCAV seems to herald the coming of a new dawn for the Royal Air Forces plans for Unmanned Air Vehicles.
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In game plans...
We plan to use the MQ9 in a number of ways:
- Straight forward config replacement for the BIS "MQ9 Reaper" which is actually a "Predator B", the Reaper's prototype. If you compare pictures you will see quite a few differences to the airframe. A deeper hull, slightly different wings, a new Sensor ball and other systems.
- A more advanced UAV system based around our own scripted system. The system allows for a more accurate multiplayer simulation of UAVs. In its simplest form its just an armed airplane with target designation capability. In it more advanced incarnation its a much more realistic UAV system intended for use with MP groups and teams that want realistic equipment for their games.
However the "UAV/Turrets on Planes" system is still very much in concept development phase. Its a hold over from the system we started in ArmA1 but with the new engine changes its meant a complete rewrite was necessary.
But the plan is to create a system where both MP crews or a single pilot to fly and use the UAV properly.
Versions
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SPECIFICATION:
Maximum speed: 482 km/h(260 knots)
Cruise speed: 276–313 km/h (150–170 knots)
Payload: 3,800 lb (1,700 kg)
Internal: 800 lb (360 kg)
External: 3,000 lb (1,400 kg)
ARMAMENT:
Upto 6 Hardpoints
1,500 lb (680 kg) on the two inboard weapons stations
500–600 lb (230–270 kg) on the two middle stations
150–200 lb (68–91 kg) on the outboard stations
Up to 14 AGM-114 Hellfire air to ground missiles can be carried or four Hellfire missiles and two 500 lb (230 kg) GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs. The 500 lb (230 kg) GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) can also be carried. Testing is underway to support the operation of the AIM-92 Stinger air-to-air missile.
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As with alot of other teams we're adding in the same hidden texture support that BIS have included in their own addons. This makes it easy for anyone to retexture the models without having to alter the original PBOs
Right now we're only planning on releasing a RAF skin. but we happy to invite others to create others skins using the template we're planning on releasing with the addon.
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