“Excellent,” Pettigrew said, nodding approval. “Who would like to try for the weapon closest to the left side of the fuselage?”
Pettigrew was pleased to see that every student was still confident they could identify the munition.
“Rahim,” he said. “Oh, and bonus points if you notice anything unusual about what I’ve placed on that pylon.”
Rahim now looked like he wasn’t so sure being picked was such a stroke of luck. “It is a GBU-38 JDAM, which is short for Joint Direct Attack Munition.” Rahim paused. “I think it is unusual because you said that normally the same weapon would be placed on each side of the fuselage, to keep the drone balanced in flight.”
Pettigrew grinned and clapped his hands. “Outstanding! That is exactly right. Now, someone else tell me why I could get away with doing this if I decided it was really necessary.”
Now no hands went up right away. Good, Pettigrew thought. I’ve got them thinking!
Finally Fadil raised his hand.
‘Yes, Fadil?” Pettigrew said, nodding in his direction.
“Well, the GBU-12 and the GBU-38 should be about the same weight, since both are based on the MK-82 bomb. They just have different guidance packages. So long as the operator is careful, it should be possible to fly the drone safely,” Fadil said.
Pettigrew whistled, which he could see immediately confused everyone.
He laughed and shook his head. “You’ll learn that if I whistle, I’m really impressed. You must have picked up that bit about the MK-82 from your own reading, since we didn’t go over it in class.”
Fadil simply nodded.
“OK, next out towards the wingtip?” Pettigrew asked.
Now every hand went up again.
“Hakim,” Pettigrew said.
“This is the AGM-114 Hellfire II missile, which uses a laser guidance system,” Hakim said.
“Excellent,” Pettigrew said, nodding. “Now, unless you were familiar with all the types of Hellfire missiles it would be difficult to tell which this was just by looking at it. Let’s say I told you this is the latest version. What would that make this one?” Pettigrew asked.
Hakim answered immediately. “That would make this an AGM-114R
Hellfire II Romeo RX missile, which has an integrated blast fragmentation sleeve warhead. That makes it possible to use the missile against many different target types, which in the past would have required different types of Hellfires.”
Pettigrew grinned and nodded. “Absolutely right. So far you’re batting a thousand.”
Again Pettigrew saw confusion on the students’ faces.
Pettigrew laughed and shook his head. “An American expression that would take too long to explain. It means you’ve answered every question perfectly so far. But I’ve saved the biggest challenge for last. What’s on the outermost pylons?”
Now Rahim raised his hand again. “It is an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile.
But I don’t understand the point of putting it on the Reaper. After all, the Houthis don’t have an air force.”
Pettigrew nodded. “Now, I’ve had officers who thought exactly that way.
Students, am I an officer?”
The students all grinned and shook their heads. Pettigrew had already made this point several times before.
“That’s why I am not going to prepare you for the dangers you expect.
Because while you’re doing that, what you don’t expect will come up behind you and kill you. If you forget everything else I teach you, remember that.”
The students all nodded solemnly.
“Now, is there anyone out there with an air force that just might want to attack you someday?” Pettigrew asked.
Nearly every student said “Iran” at the same time.
“Has anybody here heard of Pearl Harbor?” Pettigrew asked.
The students all nodded thoughtfully.
"How about Iraq’s annexation of Kuwait?” Pettigrew asked.
The students all nodded again.
“I think the point is clear. History is full of examples of attacks that nobody saw coming. How do you prevent becoming a part of that history? To the extent you can, prepare for every danger you can foresee.”
Mousa raised his hand, and Pettigrew nodded permission to speak.
“Has this drone ever shot down a jet in combat?” Mousa asked.
Pettigrew smiled. “An excellent question. First, let me point out that easier and perhaps more likely targets for the Reaper would include an enemy drone, a helicopter, or a propeller-driven aircraft. The pilot of a combat jet who knew the Reaper was there and had plenty of time to line up an approach could shoot it down every time. But in a crowded threat environment with enemy combat jets and surface to air missiles it would be easy to ignore the Reaper until it was too late.”
Pettigrew saw Mousa becoming restive and laughed. “I know, I haven’t really answered your question. The answer is that in 2017 an AIM-9X fired by a Reaper shot down a drone that was attempting to evade it. Those are the only details I can give you about that exercise.”
Pettigrew paused. “I will add this, though. This is the Block II configuration of the AIM-9X, which gives you the ability to lock on after launch. That’s thanks to the Link 16 data link, which will also allow you to supply targeting information to the missile after launch.”
Mousa nodded. “So, we could relay targeting data from the much more powerful radars we have access to at this base, and the missile wouldn’t be limited to what its own small seeker head can see?”
Pettigrew smiled. “Exactly. Now, it may be a while before you actually get a chance to fire one of these, but don’t you think the AIM-9X is a good option to have?”
Much murmuring and nodding followed among the students.
Pettigrew was pleased, but also concerned. How, he thought, am I going to arrange a chance for these students to fire a Sidewinder at a live target?
Colonel Hamid Mazdaki leaned over Arash Gul’s shoulder and asked in a whisper, “Are you sure this is the right cable?”
The technician was shivering in the cold desert night air, and continued attaching a clamp to one of the wires he had stripped from the cable before responding. Fortunately, Arash had spent years in Iran answering questions from non-technicians, and had seen what happened to ones who couldn’t keep their tempers when those questions were stupid.
Plus, Arash knew all the men in the trench they had dug out to reveal the cable were also short-tempered, and armed. Never mind that now that the cable had been revealed, he was the only one here actually doing anything.
“Yes. It is exactly where our informant said it would be, and the cable’s interior matches the schematic he provided. As for whether the method he provided works to defeat the alert network, we will only know that for sure once your tanks cross the border.” With that Arash checked the device in his hand, and grunted with satisfaction.
“I am now ready to begin recording the ambient noise and images collected by the sensors the Saudis have placed at the border. If our informant is correct, a small group such as ours should not have been enough to trigger an alarm. Still, it would be best if we keep speech and movement to a minimum while I am making the recording we will play back while your force crosses the border.”
Mazdaki nodded sharply, and whispered orders to the other soldiers who had dug the trench, who all nodded silently.
Arash nodded and said, “Good. In ninety minutes, it should be safe for your force to cross the border.”
Arash pressed the record button, and said a silent prayer.
Colonel Hamid Mazdaki scowled at the report from the scout he had sent down Highway 6262. It was exactly what he’d expected. Well, he supposed at some point the Saudis would have to rouse from their slumber.