[Oxymoron]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=520_1234404413

This thing is awesome, a loitering Missle.

[Typhoon]

A lot of work has been done in recent years to improve the persistance of weapons over the battlefield, early examples being the British ALARM anti-radiation missiles. The Harpy is a merger of a UAV and a missile, though I think that more mature UAV designs which can carry weapons themselves (like Reaper) are the way forward on this.

Reaper: (Beware of the awful voiceover).

[sploop!]

Sounds like the perfect weapon for killing Palestinian civilians. Do you happen to know if it was tested on any Gaza schools in the recent conflict? And do we have any 'kill' figures yet?

[Oxymoron]

Sounds like the perfect weapon for killing Palestinian civilians. Do you happen to know if it was tested on any Gaza schools in the recent conflict? And do we have any 'kill' figures yet?

Im sure it could be outfitted with some Chemical weapons for a better Genocide kill ratio.

[Thunderhawk]

A lot of work has been done in recent years to improve the persistance of weapons over the battlefield, early examples being the British ALARM anti-radiation missiles. The Harpy is a merger of a UAV and a missile, though I think that more mature UAV designs which can carry weapons themselves (like Reaper) are the way forward on this.

In general I agree. A 10 million dollar missile carrier that can loiter itself and then fire a $50,000 missile is more cost effective then a 1million dollar missile* that can loiter. But I believe there will be occations where the missile carrier will not be able to stick around or arrive, but a loitering missile would be wanted.

*I dont know how much the harpy costs. But even simple UAVs aren't cheap, and the harpy is basically a UAV + warhead.

[Oxymoron]

10 million dollar missile carrier that can loiter itself and then fire a $50,000 missile is more cost effective then a 1million dollar missile* that can loiter

1. You dont need as much Interface between the Missle and the Drone, so the actual device is much cheaper. Plus you dont need to service it and arm it both saving in manhours and material. Plus the Drone wont need to exert as much power to carry munitions and maintain stability when firing thus again saving on the costs of production. Creating a Predator/Reaper type Drone is expensive and time consuming this device is cheap, versetaile, and could be quickly manufactured and brought to the battle field in large numbers.

[Thunderhawk]

We should keep in mind the Harpy and the Predator are different things. The Harpy is a weapon, the Predator is a weapon delivery system.

1. You dont need as much Interface between the Missle and the Drone, so the actual device is much cheaper.

I dont know the actual numbers. Do you?
A Hellfire missile costs 50k (and this info is old).

The harpy appears to be a simple UAV with a warhead, which leads me to believe its price is similar to that of simple UAV rather then standard missile or the more advanced drones. Since its a one time UAV and it doesnt require the compact control systems missiles have so I expect its cheap, but its still basically a UAV.

maintain stability when firing thus again saving on the costs of production.

eh?
Most aircraft activate and then drop the missile (which doesnt cause a big problem on stability). Once disconnected (or on a timer) it fires its engine.

Creating a Predator/Reaper type Drone is expensive and time consuming

~$10 million, a few months.

this device is cheap, versetaile, and could be quickly manufactured and brought to the battle field in large numbers.

What is the price?
If versatility comes in changing the warhead/payload package, then it will need its own infrastructure and logistics chanel. If there will simply be many harpies with set payloads, then they need to be stored and moved - and the harpy looks like a rather large object compared to the compact conventional missiles predators use. A predator takes an assortment of standard missiles, its weapons are already a standard.

Of course the harpy will be easier to manufacture then a drone carrier. The harpy is a one shot weapon. The issue will be price. If its a lot more expensive then a regular missile then I dont see it as practical. If its comparable to a regular missile (and has enough range) it will flood the market.


Ultimately, politics and the battle field it is to be used on will play a big factor in determining which concept (complex UAV + missiles vs loitering missile) is used. For Iraq and general unknowns, predators strike me as better options as they have higher speeds, range and versatility. For Israel (and possibly Afghanistan) the Harpy strikes me as making more sense - field of operation is limited and its usage would be more often as part of an offensives rather then the predator which is expected to also do stand by/patrols.

[QatzelOk]

Little Palestinian Davids won't know what hit them.

lol