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The RQ-1 Predator:

The RQ-1 Predator is a drone spy plane which has no on-board pilot.

It forms part of a highly sophisticated, multi-million dollar intelligence gathering and targeting system.

In total this involves four air vehicles, a ground control station and a satellite link, and is operated by 55 people.

It was developed in the 1990s for use in what the US describes as "moderate-risk environments" - where enemy air defences remain a threat, or in areas which may have been contaminated by chemical or biological weapons.

The aircraft can be kitted out for reconnaissance, surveillance or (as has recently been seen) target finding, equipping it with Hellfire missiles, making it a remote deadly weapon.

It is flown from the ground station van by a "pilot" with a joystick and monitoring screens, including one giving the view from a colour TV camera in the aircraft's nose.

Each craft also has an infra-red camera for poor light or night missions, and radar to scan through smoke, clouds or haze.

They fly at relatively low speeds, but can stay airborne for nearly 24 hours at a time, cruising at up to 25,000 ft (7,500 m).

However their slow speed makes them vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire. Iraq shot down two Predators being used to enforce the "no-fly zones" and others during the war in 2003.

One was used by the CIA to kill six al-Qaeda suspects in Yemen in November 2002, and another is thought responsible for the recent attempted strike against al-Qaeda's deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri in Pakistan.

According to the Air Force, the Predator is a "Joint Forces Air Commander-owned theatre asset for reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition in support of the Joint Force commander."

http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=122