The US Air Force intends to destroy enemy air defense systems with a massive attack with inexpensive kamikaze drones.
Reconnaissance and combat drones have become perhaps the most actively used type of weapon in the fight against extremist militants. But this method of struggle is far from the most economical, each apparatus costs hundreds of millions of dollars. The US Air Force is looking for cheaper options.
This is what explains the long rows of "older" F-4 Phantom II aircraft lined up at Davis-Montan Air Force Base. Here is the Aerospace Maintenance And Regeneration Center (AMARC), where these honored veterans are radically modernized, turning into drones.
These vehicles, which received the QF-4 code, are planned to be used as a cheap means of suppressing enemy weapons and air defense systems, for which they will be equipped with air-to-ground missiles. In fact, the modernization project, which has been underway for several years, should create a flotilla of unmanned kamikaze, which the military can easily donate with a pure heart, without losing human lives. They are capable of flying in groups of up to 6 cars, communicating by means of on-board computers and GPS.
During the period of the project, about 230 vehicles were modernized, each costing only 800 thousand dollars. They are easy to distinguish from the original F-4s, with a bright orange tail and wingtip as a sign of absence of a pilot.
The project has been underway since the 1990s, but recently it crossed an important milestone: for the first time, a modified HARM anti-radar missile was launched from one of these aircraft. Each such rocket costs the US budget 300 thousand dollars - and 4 of them can be placed under the wings of the QF-4. Even if the device is destroyed, its cost will be about $ 2 million. While one modern drone MQ-9 Reaper costs more than 10 million, not counting weapons. Substantial savings in war!
