The luck of the Irish was not with a US Air ForceMQ-1 Predatordrone yesterday. Reports have been circulating that the drone was lost over the skies of Syria, with Syria’s news agency claiming the UAV was shot down, while the USAF isn’t offering much in the way of details.
The MQ-1 is the old man of the UAV world, and is currently in the process of being phased out for the much more advanced, faster and more heavily armed MQ-9 Reaper. Even had a Reaper been in the skies, though, it may have suffered the same fate (if the Syrians did, in fact, shoot the Predator down).
Head of Air Combat Command, General Mike Hostage, told Foreign Policy back in 2013 that drones are “useless” in airspace that could potentially be patrolled by enemy aircraft, Air Force Times reports.