US Air Force Drones Crashed In Record Numbers Last Year

It goes without saying that many battles in this day and age are fought remotely, as technology advances in such a manner so as to deliver a “punch from afar” to the enemy, so to speak. Drones are the perfect instruments for such a task as this – it has no pilot sitting inside, and yet carries quite a payload that can cause a small scale destruction without risking the pilot’s life. However, it seems that 2015 was not a vintage year for drones, especially when 20 large drones from the US Air Force crashed.

<1--more-->These 20 large drones (with the Predator surely being among them) had been destroyed or had sustained at least $2m in damage which can be attributed to accidents in 2015. The Reaper, which happens to be the US Air Force’s most advanced drone, was one of the worst affected models. This does not bode well for the RAF too, as it is the same drone which is used most by them as well. Experts have issued a warning that the impact of drone crashes would not get any better – surely not one of the better forecasts that we would like to hear as the year kicks off, right?

It seems that problems that the Reaper experienced were attributed to a faulty starter generator, and deputy chief of staff Lt Gen Robert P Otto did mention that the USAF was “looking closely to determine what is the core issue there”. These are definitely expensive “toys” that should work flawlessly by all accounts, so good luck for 2016!

Edwin Kee
Categories: Military
Tags: us air force