Global Hawk or Predator. Which is better?

Question

Global Hawk or Predator. Which is better?

Answer 1

Both for different reasons, Predator has a lower service ceiling and has offensive capability with a missile weapons system. But since it is limited by altitude it has been shot down in combat. Just a loss of money no pilot life, but in the right hands it may be able to be re-engineered. Global Hawk can fly much higher so it is harder to shoot down, it has more powerful surveillance computer, and longer range. And with the increased service ceiling comes increased surveillance area.

Answer 2

It's hard to compare the two and determine which is "best". Global Hawk and Predator are very different UAVs. Global Hawk is an amazing surveillance platform that brings in a very large amount of intelligence over a wide area but is not used to actively combat the enemy. The Predator is used for close in surveillance, and can use laser guided Hellfire missiles to destroy selected targets. These roles are so different that they can't really be compared. If you want to survey selected targets or small areas and destroy a few targets if necessary, then you definitely need the Predator. For an overveiw of the wider, strategic picture in order to order other units, then you need the Global Hawk. It's like comparing the U-2 spyplane and a Kiowa Warrior helicopter.

The really interesting development is the MQ-9 Reaper. IT has a much more powerful engine and more armament than the predator and more surveillance capability, which makes it a compromise between predator and global hawk. Personally I think the additional versatility makes it better for most situations than both. Look it up, it's really quite impressive. Also, wikipedia has a great list of UAVs that basically represents the history of unmanned aircraft. It's surprising how long we've been using drones. It's really not as new an idea as people think. Here's a link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unm...