United States Central Intelligence Agency

MQ-1_Predator_unmanned_aircraft

GENERAL ATOMICS MQ-1 PREDATOR Role: Remote piloted aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicle Manufacturer: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Status: In service The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) built by General Atomics and used primarily by the United States Air Force (USAF) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Initially conceived in the early 1990s for aerial reconnaissance and forward observation roles, the Predator carries cameras and other sensors but has been modified and upgraded to carry and fire two AGM-114 Hellfire missiles or other munitions (Unmanned combat aerial vehicle). The aircraft, in use since 1995, has seen combat over Afghanistan,Pakistan, Bosnia, Serbia, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Syria, and Somalia. The USAF describes the Predator as a "Tier II" MALE UAS (medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft system). The UAS consists of four aircraft or "air vehicles" with sensors, a ground control station (GCS), and a primary satellite link communication suite. Powered by a Rotax engine and driven by a propeller, the air vehicle can fly up to 400 nmi (460 mi; 740 km) to a target, loiter overhead for 14 hours, then return to its base. Following 2001, the RQ-1 Predator became the primary unmanned aircraft used for offensive operations by the USAF and the CIA in Afghanistan and the Pakistani tribal areas; it has also been deployed elsewhere. Because offensive uses of the Predator are classified, U.S. military officials have reported an appreciation for the intelligence and reconnaissance-gathering abilities of UAVs but declined to publicly discuss their offensive use. Civilian applications have included border enforcement and scientific studies, and to monitor wind direction and other characteristics of large forest fires (such as the one that was used by the California Air National Guard in the August 2013 Rim Fire). (U.S. Air Force photo/Lt Col Leslie Pratt)

CIA.jpg

(AP Photo/CIA) ** FILE **

Panetta-frame.jpg

Leon Panetta, former US Representative from California, White House Chief of Staff, Director of the CIA and US Secretary of Defense - After serving in the Army and working for Republican Sen. Thomas Kuchel, Panetta was named as the director of the Office of Civil Rights in the Nixon administration in 1969. He was later forced out of that position and switched his party affiliation to Democrat. He went on to serve as a US Congressman, as President Clinton's Chief of Staff, and as Director of the CIA and Defense Secretary in the Obama Administration.

binLaden.jpg

The U.S. government's assertion that Osama bin Laden's courier tipped off the CIA about the location of the terrorist leader's Abbottabad compound was a cover story to protect the Pakistani official that actually provided the information, a Special Forces operator told NBC News. (Associated Press)

CIA Leak Sentencing.JPEG-00990.jpg

Former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling leaves federal court in Alexandria, Va., in this Jan. 26, 2015, file photo. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)

4_5_2015_b3-barr-left-right-8201.jpg

Reorganization of the CIA Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

CIA Overhaul.JPEG-0544d.jpg

CIA Director John Brennan addresses a meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations, in New York, Friday, March 13, 2015. Brennan has ordered a sweeping reorganization of the CIA, an overhaul designed to make its leaders more accountable and close espionage gaps amid widespread concerns about the U.S. spy agency's limited insights into a series of major global developments. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

CIA Overhaul.JPEG-0e682.jpg

CIA Director John Brennan addresses a meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations, in New York, Friday, March 13, 2015. Brennan has ordered a sweeping reorganization of the CIA, an overhaul designed to make its leaders more accountable and close espionage gaps amid widespread concerns about the U.S. spy agency's limited insights into a series of major global developments. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

CIA Overhaul.JPEG-0be9d.jpg

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2014 file photo, CIA Director John Brennan speaks during a news conference at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. Brennan has ordered a sweeping reorganization of the spy agency, an overhaul designed to make its leaders more accountable, enhance the agency’s cyber capabilities and shore up espionage gaps exacerbated by a decade of focus on counterterrorism. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

Former CIA deputy director.jpg

Michael Morell, former deputy director of the CIA, says 100,000 ground troops are needed to defeat the Islamic State group. (Image: CBS screenshot)

95092f015c3d72046c0f6a7067009bee.jpg

House Select Committee on Benghazi Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., demands answers of witnesses from the State Department and the CIA, as it holds its third public hearing to investigate the 2012 attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, where a violent mob killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

CIA.jpg

Former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling, left, leaves the Alexandria Federal Courthouse Monday, Jan. 26, 2015, in Alexandria, Va., with his wife, Holly, center and attorney Barry Pollack, after being convicted on all nine counts he faced of leaking classified details of an operation to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions to a New York Times reporter. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

1_212015_ap101215031135-08201.jpg

Former Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana unveiled a report countering that staffers for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat, were hacked by the CIA. Rather, he says, Ms. Feinstein's staff left CIA premises with documents without permission. (Associated Press)

1_212015_ap20531595094-18201.jpg

Sen. Dianne Feinstein said that her staff's computers were hacked by CIA officers in a partisan attack. However, the Bayh report has discovered otherwise. (Associated Press)

feinstein.jpg

California Democrat Dianne Feinstein has said former CIA Director Petraeus has "suffered enough." (Associated Press)

CIA.jpg

Senate committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein's release of the 499-page 'torture report' seemed to have two prime motives. One was to reveal CIA interrogation methods that included waterboarding three al Qaeda chieftains, sleep deprivation, nudity and forced standing in shackles. The other was to dispel the argument from former CIA Director Leon E. Panetta, a fellow Democrat, and George W. Bush administration officials who said enhanced interrogations were critical to the hunt for Osama bin Laden. (Associated Press)