June 18, 2012. Salisbury, MD. When the gigantic unmanned spy drone crashed in Maryland last week, many Americans were surprised to learn the federal government was using drones to spy on its own citizens. The Navy insists this particular mission was simply a test flight and not an actual surveillance mission. For those curious about where and how many unmanned drone bases there are in America, the answer is 64 and they’re plotted out in the below map.
Map of current and planned unmanned drone bases in the US. Image courtesy of Wired.com.
The RQ-4A Global Hawk unmanned spy drone is a behemoth in the drone world. NPR reports that the Northrop Grumman creation has a wing span of 116 feet, weighs 25,600 pounds and can fly for 36 consecutive hours, covering 11,730 nautical miles. The downed drone was based out of Patuxtent Naval Air Station in St. Mary’s County, Maryland.
Here are all 64 unmanned drone bases in the US (from Wired.com)
Map of current (red) and planned (blue) unmanned drone bases on US soil.
When the unmanned Global Hawk drone crashed in Maryland last week, it was fortunate to go down in a sparsely-populated swamp area. The US Navy reports that there were no casualties. CNN immediately began broadcasting video of the wreckage. See video below:
Video of Maryland unmanned drone crash last week. Video posted on YouTube by Associated Press.
For more information on US unmanned drones, read the following Whiteout Press articles:
Domestic Spy Drones to be Armed
Iran Downs US Stealth Aircraft
US Marines killed in friendly Drone Attack
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