The Defence Acquisition Council or DAC, led by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, approved the acquisition of US-manufactured Predator drones. Read: The Latest Defence Current Affairs Notes here
The MQ-9 Reaper, also known as Predator B, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations.
It is developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI), primarily for the United States Air Force (USAF).
It is remotely operated by a two-person team consisting of a pilot and an aircrew member who operates sensors and guides weapons.
The US uses the MQ-9 Reaper for both surveillance and strikes.
Features of Predator drone:
It is 11 meters long with a wingspan of over 22 meters.
Reapers can be armed with air-to-ground Hellfire missiles as well as laser-guided bombs.
It can carry as many as 16 Hellfire missiles, equivalent to the payload capacity of an Apache helicopter.
It can fly at an altitude of 50,000 ft (15 km) and can loiter over targets for over 27 hours.
Top speed: 275 mph.
Read : The Latest Defence Current Affairs Notes here
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