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From: edat!brian@uunet.UU.NET (brian douglass)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Pegasus
Message-ID: <1991Apr29.051548.5526@amd.com>
Date: 25 Apr 91 17:40:00 GMT
References: <1991Apr17.055545.13756@amd.com> <1991Apr18.032927.22679@amd.com> <1991Apr22.072403.26403@amd.com>
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From: edat!brian@uunet.UU.NET (brian douglass)


Instead of all the high-tech gizmos of Pegasus launched
sattelLITEs, why not use the little drone aircraft the Navy bought from
Israel for fire-control on battleships?  I would assume they have at 
least a 20 mile combat radius plus loiter time in order to be 
effective for the Navy.  

Does anyone know exact specs?  From news reports when Lehman first 
ordered them in the mid-80s they are extremely stealthly (fiberglass 
body, wooden propeller, small, operate at 5,000 feet making them 
noiseless).  When the Marine Commandant (Kelly?) went to Beirut to 
survey the disaster of the barracks bombing, the Israelis had one of 
the drones flying over that could read the license plate.  When the
Israelis sent a tape of their recon, it made quite an impression on 
the Commandant and Navy Secretary to see a cross-hair on the 
Commandant's head.  That it could fly from Isreali controlled airspace 
to Beirut says a lot about capability.

Wasn't the Army developing a drone of their own called the Amigo,
or such, but was eventually cancelled?  
	 
Point is you don't always have to go super-high-tech when a simpler
yet effective solution is available.
	
	[The Aquila, I think, which some incredible sum
	 of money has been spent on, unfortunately arguing against
	 your last point where the Pentagon is concerned. 
	 I hadn't heard anything about a (richly deserved) cancellation,
	 but may have missed it.  :-( --CDR ]

--
Brian Douglass			brian@edat.uucp