The Pros And Cons Of Predator Drones

Since the events of 9/11, drone strikes have become a tool for the United States as it fights a global war against terrorist organizations. The advantages and disadvantages of this particular counterterrorism option continue to be debated. Instead of sending in warfighters to achieve specific objectives, many argue that unmanned combat aerial vehicles provide the U.S. military and government with low-risk and low-cost options as it engages in military operations in other regions of the world. Compared with manned fighter aircraft, some of these unmanned vehicles are able to fly longer without stopping, which affords the U.S. with better intelligence collection and targeting opportunities. Even if the aircraft were shot down, there is not

In many cases, sending in a seal team to capture a high-value target would be much more expensive than sending a drone. Additionally, the cost of transporting and detaining the target in a place such as Guantanamo Bay is very high. Through the use of drones, the US government can cut military costs without risking lives.

The purpose of the first military drones, in 2002, was to find and locate Osama Bin Laden (Shafton).  Back then, drones weren’t equipped with nearly as many devices as they are now.  From 2002-2004, drones were strictly used for reconnaissance missions (Shafton).  At the time, the drone model in use was the SCPA-039 (“Surveillance and Communications Parsing Aircraft”) (Sharkley).  These drones were equipped with gadgets like long-range radar and three megapixel cameras (Hoffman). The three cameras were used to better triangulate the position of the target (Hoffman). It is estimated that it cost the military around 300K per SCPA unit, when adjusted for inflation (NC DOT).  With the help of these drones, U.S. troops in Iraq were able to more

As a five year old girl draws a picture for her grandma in her kindergarten class, a sweaty older man bursts in. Her teacher shrills and covers the kid standing next to her. She begs screaming, “Please don’t hurt the childr…”, but with one pull of the trigger both the teacher and the student fall. The man’s eyes examined the child’s classroom. He lifts up his gun and shoots down the line of students like it was a carnival game. The little girl envisioned her grandma reaching her arms out to help her off the bus, but before she could reach her, everything went dark. The portrait of her grandma was splattered in red and the little girl laid beside it, dead.

Top counterterrorist advisors from both the Bush and Obama administrations champion drone use as the most effective tool in the war on terror. They are relatively cheap, effective at killing terrorist with minimal civilian casualties. They protect US troops by preventing “boots on the ground” scenarios and ultimately make America safer. Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is quoted as say, “the only game in town in terms of trying to disrupt the al Qaeda leadership” An important question to ask is: Are these short term advantages worth the long term repercussions. Michael J Boyle examines this question in, “The Cost and Consequences of Drone Warfare.” He first question the validity of the claim that drones are effective at killing

Smiling, she enjoyed the ride from the grocery store. Excitement building at the thought of the camp-out. They headed toward the church for a 'Royal Scouts' camp-out, when Elisabeth felt the car slow to a stop. Looking to her mother she asked; 'What's wrong mommy? Why are we stopping?' 'Someone's car broken down, honey. So we're just slowing down so people can go around them.' She looked out her window at the little white car stopped on the two-lane bridge. With just barely passing the room, she watched as people moved their cars to the right side of the lane.  From somewhere behind their car, the sound of a freight train came squealing to a halt. With a burning smell of rubber, piercing her nostrils, a logging truck whizzed past her window. It happened so fast. When the truck came barreling down the road, it fish-tailed into the back end of Elizabeth's little white car. Shattering her window, Elisabeth as pieces of glass floated through the air and the car turned toward the ledge of the tiny bridge. The ringing sound of her mother's screams rang deep within her ears, as the water on her right slowly came into view. Jerking the steering wheel with all her might, her mother screamed as she desperately attempted to turn it away from the ledge. No matter how hard she tried, the wheel would not move in any direction. It was locked. Her mother threw her hands in the air while

The Predator C, “Avenger” developed and built by General Atomics Aeronautical, is an upgraded version of its predecessors the MQ-1 and MQ-9 and is meant to support military operations well into the next decade. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney PW545B turbofan engine the Avenger is capable of speeds up to 400 knots true air speed (KTAS), and operational altitudes of up to 50,000 feet, well outpacing its predecessors (CITE). The Avenger has also been further optimized to reduce its Radar Cross Section (RCS), making it less detectable by enemy air defenses. Beyond its ability to out-fly the original Predator UAS, the Avenger is able to be equipped with a more capable and configurable sensors and weapons package. These advancements make the Predator C Avenger the most capable and universal hunter-killer type UAS

Although lots of deaths still happen unintendedly they are reduced by a great fraction. Approximately $5 billion are used in the whole drone program, which equals 1% of the annual military budget (Motherboard. N. p., 2017. Web). When you hear the word cheaper you assume it means less quality, but in this case, cheaper equals the same or more quality plus fewer risks of

Caylee stepped off the bus and ran to her house. She ran through her gate, past 7 of her family’s cars in her driveway, and finally reached the giant doors of her huge house. Being a 13 year old, Caylee wanted to get a snack and watch T.V. that day. But, when she walked through the doors Caylee heard a yell, “CAYLEE, COME TO THE KITCHEN!” Although her mom yelled so loud, she could barely hear her. As her backpack weighed down her shoulders, Caylee trudged to the kitchen.

It is important that, “The government’s power to kill must be carefully controlled or it could turn into a tyranny worse than terrorism.”(Suarez, Daniel. TED) that is why there are so many strict guidelines to the U.S. Armed Forces actions. In countries where conflict is present, the United States has jurisdiction to intervene with permission from the host state according to international laws of warfare and conflict. Countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia have given official consent to the United States to use drone strikes within their countries, because they cannot control terrorist groups present. Most drone strikes take place in these countries too. There are strict military standards for review of combative situations, some read as follows: “(1) Near certainty that terrorist target is present [in the area of action] (2) Near certain that non-combatants are safe [from drone or similar strike] (3) Assessment that capture [of target] is not feasible (4) An assessment that relevant government authorities in the country of action is contemplated. (5) No other reasonable alternatives exist.” (Louise. Drones). These guidelines make it so that every situation is thoroughly examined while considering all options. This is very common in The United States’ use of drones. The drone operators hold a level of immunity because they are thousands of miles from the combat, that being said

“It is a shame that her father left her...this happened because her mother failed her job as a wife...she is so young...what was her father thinking?”, my relatives whispered as they sipped their tea. My cousin’s face turned pale like the white blanket of snow falling outside the lodge at the camp in Lake Tahoe. Her expression held so many emotions as if it was a canvas of a painting to be gazed upon. I could see that she felt frustrated and tired of these rude remarks, and all I did was just stand there and caressed the back side of her hands, so I could comfort her. Suddenly, it felt like the air had thickened so much that even a hammer could not slash it into tiny bits. My cousin had not yet known why her father left the house yesterday.

Where do we draw the line between terroristic acts and essential need to eradicate terrorists? While there is no definitive definition of terrorism, according to Professor Cindy Combs, in order to constitute an act of terrorism, the aforementioned act must follow a strict set of stringent guidelines. The act must be, carried out against innocent people, intended to frighten the larger audience, be an act of violence, and have political motivation.

Unpiloted drone use has been a common place in military deployments for the past decade. Television has made drones famous, showing up to the second video of bombs striking their targets. But what about the use of drones on a domestic level? Is the public and government ready for objects, some weighing 1000 lbs flying above our cities with no human interaction present aboard? Is our culture prepared for unrecognizable surveillance from these flying objects above our homes?

Just imagine seeing those military drones fly over your house, and you see an explosion over in the field within walking distance of the house and hear the words, "Run! Get out of this town." That was a drone. The question is, "Are drones good or bad?" Although military drones give information about the enemy, they kill innocent lives, they are an invasion of privacy, and drone pilots could have a mental breakdown because of all the people dying in front of them.To begin, drones will kill more than the intended target 85% of the time. Predator drones are mostly known for anti-terrorist attacks. We disregard the paperwork that has to be done before a lethal attack. "Drones kill innocent lives" (PBS.org). When drones kill, they also will kill

America’s entire Drone Program takes up 1% of the entire annual military budget which is 5 billion dollars, this sounds like alot but its not when compared to the Manned Strike Program which roughly uses up 15 billion dollars of the annual budget.This is a 10 billion dollar difference. In 2014 the United States spent over 2.2 trillion dollars and since then it has gone up due to ground wars in Afghanistan,Syria, and Iraq this huge number could have been cut down if the United States used drone strikes more often. Although peace activists believe drone strikes mostly kill targets who are low vaule threats to the country. In 2012 it was reported there had been 500 militants armed out of these 500 militants, drone strikes successfully killed 35 including 12 civilians. According to the New America Foundation, from 2004 through 2012 only 49 militants were killed that was 2% of terrorists. Still these low value targets are still criminals and enemies, so it’s important to spend the money to stop them. If we allow ourselves to ignore the small threats, then we are allowing these people to kill or break many laws, after the defense program being over 2.2 trillion dollars, the best move would be using drone strikes to cut down the military budget.