The second birth of the "Phantoms"
Reconnaissance and combat drones have become perhaps the most actively used type weapons in the fight against extremist militants. But this method of struggle is far from the most economical, each unit costs hundreds of millions of dollars. The US Air Force is looking for cheaper options.
That is what explains the long rows of "old" F-4 Phantom II aircraft, lined up at the Davis-Montana base of the USAF. The Aerospace Maintenance And Regeneration Center (AMARC) is located here, where these honored veterans are radically upgraded to drones.
These vehicles, codenamed QF-4, are planned to be used as a cheap means of suppressing enemy air defense systems and assets, for which they will be equipped rockets class "air-to-ground". In essence, the modernization project, which has been underway for several years, should create a flotilla of unmanned "kamikazes" that the military can sacrifice easily and with a pure heart, without losing human lives. They are capable of flying in groups of up to six machines, communicating via onboard computers and GPS.
During the project, about 230 machines have been upgraded, each costing only 800 thousand dollars. They are easy to distinguish from the original F-4: a sign of the absence of the pilot is the bright orange color of the tail and the tips of the wings.
The project has been implemented since the 1990-x, but recently it has overcome an important milestone: for the first time a modified HARM anti-radar missile was launched from one of these aircraft. Each such missile costs the US budget 300 thousand dollars - and under the wings of QF-4 they can be placed 4 pieces. Even if the device is destroyed, its cost will be about 2 million dollars. While one modern drone MQ-9 Reaper costs more than 10 million, not counting weapons. Substantial savings on war!
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