MQ-1 Predator

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV; also known as a remotely operated aircraft) is an aircraft that flies without a human crew. Their largest uses are in military applications. To distinguish UAVs from missiles, a UAV is defined as a reusable, uncrewed vehicle capable of controlled, sustained, level flight and powered by a jet or reciprocating engine. Therefore, cruise missiles are not considered UAVs, because, like many other guided missiles, the vehicle itself is a weapon that is not reused, even though it is also unmanned and in some cases remotely guided.

The UAV model in game is the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator. It is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which the United States Air Force describes as a MALE (medium-altitude, long-endurance) UAV system. It can serve in a reconnaissance role and fire either two AGM-114 Hellfire missiles (Air-to-Ground), or two AIM-92 Stinger Missiles (Air-to-Air) (the same missile used in the Stinger) from the two hardpoints on the wings. The aircraft, in use since 1995, has seen combat over Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bosnia, Serbia, Iraq, and Yemen.

The MQ-1 Predator is a system, not just an aircraft. The fully operational system consists of four air vehicles (with sensors), a ground control station (GCS), and a Predator primary satellite link communication suite. In the overall U.S. Air Force integrated UAV system the Predator is considered a "Tier II" vehicle. The Predator system was initially designated the RQ-1 Predator. The "R" is the Department of Defense designation for reconnaissance and the "Q" refers to an unmanned aircraft system; the "1" describes it as being the first of a series of aircraft systems built for unmanned reconnaissance. Pre-production systems were designated as RQ-1A, while the RQ-1B (not to be confused with the RQ-1 Predator B, which became the MQ-9 Reaper) denotes the baseline production configuration. It should be emphasized that these are designations of the system as a unit. The actual aircraft themselves were designated RQ-1K for pre-production models, and RQ-1L for production models. In 2005, the USAF officially changed the designation to MQ-1 (the "M" designates multi-role) to reflect its growing use as an armed aircraft.

Appearance in campaign
The MQ-1 Predator Appears several times in the campaign and on Contingency can only fire once before having to reload.
 * Friendly:
 * Wolverines!
 * Contingency
 * Enemy:
 * Wolverines!

Named Predators:

Avatar One (Shadow Company)

Spec Ops
The Predator appears in Spec ops missions and can only fire one missile before reloading.
 * Friendly:
 * Sniper Fi


 * Enemy:
 * Homeland Security

Modern Warfare: Mobilized
The UAV Recon makes an appearance in the level "Recon Mission". The UAV is first activated by playing a "Satellite Mini-Game". The player must drag computer chips into the fitting slot and then align three satellites at the targeted (red) area (like a GPS). Then the UAV is sent to the targeted area and the player controls it from there. There are two buttons on the touch screen. One is "Attack Mode". This allows the player to scan the objectives and use the missiles. The other button is "Defense Mode". This mode allows the player to deploy flares to disorient incoming SAM missiles or use the radar.

Trivia

 * Contrary to popular belief, it is the whole system (Plane, missiles and Ground Control) that is the Predator, not the missile.
 * When the Predator is used in Modern Warfare 2, it has seemingly limitless missiles. In reality, it can only carry 2
 * If you look closely, the Predator has a jet engine in-game. There is no variant of the MQ-1 Predator in real life that has a jet engine. The RQ-4 Global Hawk is the closest UAV with a jet engine, but has a similar look to the predator.