The MQ-1 Predator , whose 1994 release makes it somewhat of a dinosaur by UAV standards, remains a mainstay of U.S. Air Force operations. "It will continue, I think, to expand its proliferation and its individual capability," Lt. Gen. Donald J. Hoffman, an official in the Air Force's acquisition office, said at the AUVSI symposium this week. Controlled on the ground by a joystick-like device, it first started looking out for action on the ground during the conflict in Kosovo. Although it was originally used primarily for reconnaissance missions, the General Atomics aircraft can also now be outfitted with laser-guided antitank missiles and has logged 250,000 flying hours, most of them in combat.
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