Discover a new type of secret armed UAV with great firepower of the US

American company General Atomics has built and tested a new type of extremely lethal drone. Its lethality lies in its extreme firepower: it can carry 16 AGM-144 Hellfire missiles similar to the AH-64 Apache helicopter.

General Atomics' secret drone "Mojave" successfully tested.

According to US news site Breaking Defense, an unnamed source said that this unregistered drone last summer made its first flight over the Mojave Desert ((Mojave Desert) should be temporarily suspended. called 'Mojave'.

Although General Atomics does not want to talk about this heavily armed drone, one source said the UAV can take off and land on runways less than 800 feet (about 240 meters), can take off Wings from a medium-sized base, rough airfields, dirt roads, dry river beds, even catapult devices can launch it and retrieve it on board. The 'Mojave' can take off from small, unprepared locations, making it highly adaptable to extreme conditions. It is also equipped with powerful lift equipment and jet engines. 450 hp Rolls-Royce propeller.

Some of the basic features of "Mojave" are revealed.

The Mojave's ability to carry 16 AGM-144 Hellfire missiles is astounding, twice the capacity of the active MQ-1C Predator and four times the carrying capacity of the MQ-9 Reaper.

According to sources, this powerful armed drone is based on the MQ-1C Predator UAV, its wing shape is similar to the OV-10 attack aircraft. Its wingspan is significantly larger than the MQ-1C Predator, so there is more space to carry weapons. It also has lighter avionics and other superior functions, such as an automatic take-off and landing system.

"Mojave" has 6 hang points that help it carry many weapons.

Of course, carrying such a huge amount of weapons comes at the expense of reduced flight time and range. The source acknowledged, carrying all 16 AGM-144 Hellfire missiles will affect the continuous operation time, also reduce the mission space and electricity. However, the mission of this UAV is very flexible, if used for close support missions and battlefield patrols, it can take off in an emergency and immediately launch several missiles; After reducing weight it can restore all functions, can continue to operate in the air for a long time.

The wingspan of "Mojave" is very wide, convenient for carrying many weapons.

Currently, the official name of this new drone has not been revealed, perhaps information about it may be announced later this year.

Currently, General Atomics has not yet begun negotiating the sale of this new drone with the US military or potential international customers. People familiar with the matter said that the 'Mojave' system when designed was based on projects of the US Army Futures Command and the US Special Operations Command (US Special Operations Command). SOCOM), especially SOCOM's Overwatch program, this new UAV could also fit the operational needs of the Marines or any other US expeditionary force.

With the ability to carry 16 anti-tank missiles AGM-144 Hellfire, the damage of "Mojave" is equivalent to the expensive armed helicopter AH-64 Apache.