US Army Loses Drone Worth $1.5 Million during Tests 2.75 out of 5 based on 4 ratings. 4 user reviews.
The US Army has lost the RQ-7Bv2 Shadow unmanned aerial vehicle during a training mission at Fort Huachuca.
During nine days, the Pentagon was looking for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which lost control and started an autonomous flight, the Military information website reported.
The incident occurred during a test of the new RQ-7Bv2 Shadow reconnaissance drone at a landfill of the Fort Huachuca military base, located in the south of Arizona. According to a press release, issued by US military, the UAV, worth $1.5 million, lost contact with a ground control station and flew far beyond the military base. The search for the drone was being conducted for nine days, as the RQ-7Bv2 Shadow is capable to stay aloft for nine hours and can cover a distance of 109 kilometers during this time.
As spokesman for the 7th Infantry Division, Lt. Col. Fredrick Williams said, US military asked police and representatives of public organizations for help, but this did not help. Nine days later, a casual tourist found the UAV in the mountains of Colorado. The drone was stuck in a tree and lost its wing during a 'hard landing'.
The intrigue lies in the fact that military experts still do not understand how the UAV got there, as there are 970 kilometers between the military base and the place, where the RQ-7Bv2 Shadow was found, that is much greater than the declared range capability of the aerial vehicle. However, this capability is determined by possibilities of communication with the device that means that the range capability in free flight can be much greater that was revealed during the incident.
During nine days, ground services and air defense teams did not manage to find the unidentified aerial vehicle of impressive sizes, which was airborne.
The RQ-7Bv2 Shadow UAV has a length of 3.4 meters and a wingspan of 6.1 meters. The drone, whose maximum takeoff weight is 204.1 kilograms, is equipped with a small-sized reciprocating engine, producing 38 horsepower. The UAV is capable of speeds up to 204 kilometers per hour.
It is not the first time, when US military chase their own uncontrollable aerial vehicles. In October 2015, a similar incident occurred during tests of the JLENS supervisory aerostat at the Aberdeen landfill. A steel-wire rope broke, and the aerostat started an 'autonomous flight', dragging scraps of the rope at low altitude. During several hours, US military chased the aerial vehicle, and at this time the rope's scrap shorted out several power lines. In the end, the aerostat was caught, and though hundreds of houses were left without electricity, there were no victims and casualties.
When Iran took over control of the RQ 170 , the US was flying in far western Afghanistan , and managed to land it , without breaking it , the US military was not pleased , big time . Flynn was probably held responsible . Apparently , the Persians out maneuvered them several times in Afghanistan , hence his distaste for them .
Iran back engineered it , and they (Iran) say it saved them 35 years of research . They built a lightly bigger version they call the "Saeqeh" or "Lightning Bolt" .
This is a country which has failed to rebuild and augment its infrastructure and develop an effective and efficient education system affordable to all talented Americans but spends, and has spent, an astronomic sum of its military! You just could not make it up could you? But then the US is not run by people for its own people but is following the agenda of the globalist international banking – corporatist cabal in its persuit of global hegemony. Then it all suddenly makes sense! The gigantic US military arsenal will be used soon before the cost of sustaining it becomes impossible. Hence, one can regard the US as being very dangerous right now as the globalists are hankering for a major war to achieve their hegmonic objectives and kill a large part of the human race.