hello everyone today we'll show you how mq-9  Reaper drones carry out airstrikes and don't  

forget to support our channel by pressing the  subscribe button below thanks the recent killing  

of senior Iranian general Qasem Soleimani has  been widely reported as conducted by an mq-9  

Reaper drone but what does such an operation  actually involve while the ultimate decision to  

carry out the attack has clearly been placed  with the Trump administration much of the  

reporting and commentary has still bought into  the misleading idea that drones enabled instant  

killing using machines to take away the risks  and responsibilities of warfare from military  

personnel the US and other militaries that use  attack drones are generally very secretive about  

their operations adding to the lingering false  perceptions as such no official statements have  

confirmed the use of the Reaper in this instance  although several reports include quotes from  

unnamed government sources that do so however the  drone strike seems likely in this case because of  

the precise nature of the attack and the Reaper is  the only publicly known attack drone now operated  

by the US military I spent two years working with  two RAF Reaper squadrons to research the people  

who fly this aircraft this included watching  real-time lethal strikes alongside crews at  

Creech Air Force Base and RAF Waddington it  also included ninety interviews with people  

who work with Reapers based on what I learned  here are the key things you need to know about  

how such an attack would probably play out  and the importance of understanding the role  

of human military operators first Reapers aren't  launched at the touch of a button from thousands  

of miles away it takes up to two seconds for  a satellite control signal to reach a reaper  

on another continent so such a delay would  cause crashes on takeoff or landing instead  

the Reaper has to be taken off within the line  of sight of a nearby launch and recovery pilot  

this happens in or near the location where the  drones mission will take place once the reaper  

is safely airborne control can be transferred to  accrue thousands of miles away one report claimed  

that the drone used in this soleimani killing  was overhead Baghdad Airport when its missile  

was launched true salamati himself was killed at  Baghdad Airport and Reaper may have been orbiting  

the target area but Hellfire missiles are not  fired straight downwards nor does a Reaper hover  

like a helicopter or the smaller DJI phantom drone  the Reaper is an aircraft with a 20 meter wingspan  

it's piloted using flight control surfaces like  flaps and ailerons which removed via satellite  

signal for a successful missile firing the Reaper  needs to be up to a few kilometers away from its  

target and then pointed towards it to create the  right firing angle the missiles typically take  

around 30 seconds to hit their target depending  on the launch height and distance once a target  

is identified it's up to the human operators  to launch the attack Reapers are not autonomous  

decision-making weapon systems that select victims  or choose how and when to kill them soleimani was  

killed by a Hellfire laser-guided missile that  may have come from a drone but it would have  

been fired by a pilot in a ground control station  located in the United States each missile would  

then have been guided by a sensor operator  onto soleimani scar or his escort vehicle  

this represents the final stage in a highly human  operation sometimes we get the impression that  

the drone does it all it doesn't not a video  game this is important to understand because  

drones are often portrayed as turning killing  into a video game but that's not an accurate  

analogy at a purely economic level the controls  of an mq-9 Reaper drone are actually neither is  

sophisticated nor as sensitive as state-of-the-art  gaming controllers the mq-1 predator on which  

the mq-9 Reaper is based was rushed into service  after 9/11 and typical military aircraft testing  

and development was not carried out because of  time constraints Asura's the controls were not  

developed to be as user-friendly as they'll be  in the Reapers successors more important is the  

human dimension when reaper crews have followed  someone for days or weeks their target is not  

just pixels on a screen but a living human being  operators watch targets spend time with family  

and friends and even playing with their children  cruise commanders and image analysts also continue  

to watch from above after a missile or bomb  strike conducting battle damage assessment  

they see the bits of bodies being collected and  taken for burial they see grieving devastated  

family members and they know it's no game with  a reset button as a result operating a drone  

carries real risks for one thing terrorists have  tried to target Reaper pilots and published a hit  

list but more prevalent is the psychological  risk and repeatedly witnessing traumatizing  

events and lethal strikes in close-up detail a  senior Reaper commander is described the impact  

of this as far greater than it ever was with a  manned cockpit these psychological effects are  

not yet fully understood but the risk is there as  one sensor operator I interviewed said if anybody  

on the Reaper fleet says it doesn't affect them  then they're lying it does it has two remotely  

piloted aircraft like the Reaper will provide key  Air Force capabilities for generations to come for  

people to debate this technology in a useful way  they need to know what they can and cannot do and  

understand that the government's are not using  autonomous drones to kill random victims human  

operators are making life-and-death decisions  with huge consequences for everyone involved  

well that was how Reaper drones really carry out  airstrikes thanks for watching and we'll see you  

in the next video Salah mani directed the recent  attacks on US personnel in Iraq that badly wounded  

for service members and killed one American and  he orchestrated the violent assault on the US  

Embassy in Baghdad in recent days he was planning  new attacks on Amer and targets but we stopped  

him solemn and his hands were drenched in both  American and Iranian blood he should have been  

terminated long ago by removing solemn a knee  we have sent a powerful message to terrorists

in recent months alone Iran se ships in  international waters fired an unprovoked  

strike on Saudi Arabia and shot down two US  drones the missiles fired last night at us  

and our allies were paid for with the funds  made available by the last administration  

the regime also greatly tightened the reins  on their own country even recently killing  

1,500 people at the many protests that are  taking place all throughout Iran today I am  

going to ask NATO to become much more  involved in the Middle East process

the American military has been completely  rebuilt under my administration at a cost  

of 2.5 trillion dollars u.s. armed forces  are stronger than ever before our missiles  

are big powerful accurate lethal and fast under  construction are many hypersonic missiles the  

fact that we have this great military and  equipment however does not mean we have to  

use it we do not want to use it American  strength both military and economic is  

the best deterrent finally to the people and  leaders of Iran we want you to have a future  

and a great future one that you deserve one  of prosperity at home and harmony with the  

nations of the world the United States is  ready to embrace peace with all who seek

you