A previously unarmed Predator drone (RQ-1) hits a stationary target for the first time with a Hellfire-C anti-tank missile, the first unmanned aerial vehicle to destroy an armored target on the ground. At Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field in Nevada, the Air Force sets up the Predator on a hardstand, positioning it more than a kilometer from a stationary tank. The drone test fires three Hellfire-C missiles, gauging the load impact on the spindly drone shooting a missile. All three missiles find the laser spot on the target and hit. The armed Predator is given the new designation MQ-1A.
Further weapons tests occur between May 22 and June 7, with mixed results. While missile accuracy was excellent, there were some problems with fusing and it was realized that modifications would have to be made to the Army missile to make it more capable for aerial attack. George Tenet testified before the 9/11 Commission in 2004 that the problems were not resolved before 9/11.
In June 2001, as part of a special access program, a Hellfire missile was launched against a engineer-constructed replica of Osama bin Laden’s Tarnak Farm residence near Kandahar. The missile exploded inside one of the replica’s rooms and the final assessment was that any people in the room would have been killed.
Five days after 9/11, before any U.S. troops (and most aircraft) had arrived in the region, Air Force Predator drones with Hellfire missiles quietly deployed to Shahbaz airfield in Jacobabad, Pakistan, located some 300 miles southeast of Kandahar. The deployment was “secret” but local residents soon protested the deployment. Shahbaz was also used by special operations forces as a hub for deployment and to stage combat search and rescue (CSAR) assets.
Day: February 21, 2021