The U S Army’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle became operational in 2009 and can carry weapons or equipment to disrupt enemy communications 4 Osama Bin Laden
CHAPTER ONE SILENT OBSERVERS On May 1 2012 U S Special Forces swarmed into a three-story compound in northeast Pakistan Inside the compound lived the world’s most wanted terrorist Osama Bin Laden In 2001 Bin Laden had masterminded the devastating 9 11 attacks on the Pentagon and New York City’s World Trade Center For more than a decade the United States had hunted Bin Laden Now finally the Central Intelligence Agency had located the terrorist As American soldiers closed in a powerful new weapon flew silently in the skies above an aircraft called a drone 5
Drones go by many names including unmanned aerial vehicles and remotely piloted aircraft Basically they are aircraft that do not have pilots sitting in them The drone involved in the attack on Osama Bin Laden was an RQ-170 Sentinel In the months before the attack the RQ-170 spied on the terrorist’s compound recording movements in and out of it The night of May 1 2012 U S President Barack Obama probably watched the attack live through an RQ-170 camera The images made one thing clear unmanned aircraft are changing the very nature of warfare 6
The Navy’s X-47B illustrates stealth technology in drones The plane’s materials and wing design deflect and absorb radar signals making the drone almost impossible to detect The RQ-170 Sentinel used to plan and execute the attack on Osama Bin Laden came equipped with advanced cameras and stealth technology that made it difficult for enemy radar to detect 7
