Dedicated 27 May 2009
Span: 48.7 feet · Speed: 70-135 mph
Length: 27 feet · Ceiling: 25,000 feet
Cost: $1 million · Engine: Four-cylinder Rotax 914F
The aircraft on display is the RQ-1K Predator, SN 95-3013. It is a medium-altitude, long-endurance, first-generation unmanned aircraft system initially used for reconnaissance and surveillance. The RQ-1 entered the USAF inventory in 1994 and was deployed for the first time over Bosnia in 1995. In 2002, the Predator was armed with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, re-designated the MQ-1, and given interdiction and armed reconnaissance roles.
Goodfellow AFB graduates have exploited thousands of Predator sorties as crew members of the Air Force Distributed Common Ground System; and since Predator's inception, Goodfellow has trained imagery analysts to serve as Predator sensor operators. Goodfellow currently trains geospatial intelligence analysts, fusion analysts, cryptolinguists, and intelligence officers who play crucial roles in employing the Predator to find, fix, and destroy enemy forces.
This air vehicle - "Tail 13" - entered the [U.S.] Air Force inventory in 1997 and was deployed immediately to Bosnia. During Operation Allied Force in 1999, Tail 13 was deployed on a 'suicide' mission to locate Serbian surface-to-air missile systems. Early into the mission, the operators lost communications with the aircraft. Incredibly, Tail 13 returned to base 6 hours later and the operators were able to reacquire communication and land it. Among the operators on that mission was SrA Andrew Reindl, later assigned as an instructor in Goodfellow's Imagery Analysis course.
This aircraft is on loan from the National Museum of the United States Air Force
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