U.S. policymakers are girding the American public for a long fight against ISIS, with Secretary of State John Kerry saying that the jihadists could take several years to defeat.
ISIS has one of the most extensive arsenals of any non-state armed group in modern history. But even if not all of their weaponry is applicable to the fight against extremists in the Middle East, it's worth remembering that the U.S. and its partners still have the overwhelming advantage in hardware.
And it's not just an advantage over nonstate groups like ISIS.
The U.S. is in possession of a range of weapons that the rest of the world simply doesn't have.
Weapons like the MQ9 Reaper Drone, the Laser Avenger and the ADAPTIV cloaking give U.S. troops the a leg-up on any battlefield around the world — including in the ongoing battle against jihadist groups across the Middle East.
MQ9 Reaper Drone
Manufactured by: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI)
Release date: 2001
The Reaper has been around for over 10 years, but was used largely for intelligence and reconnaissance until recently.
Today, squadrons of F-16's are being transitioned into fully unmanned drone fleets.
The Reaper is the largest of the UAV's in the U.S. arsenal with a wingspan of 84 feet, a takeoff weight of 7,000 pounds, a payload capacity of 3,000 pounds, and a maximum flight time of 36 hours.
The drone can read a license plate from over two miles away while flying at an altitude of 52,000 feet. Capable of carrying 500-pound bombs, air-to-ground, and air-to-air missiles, the UAV fleet is poised to perform the lion's share of American air support in coming years.
At the beginning of this decade, the U.S. already had more personnel training to operate its burgeoning drone fleet than for any other weapon system in its arsenal.
AA12 Atchisson Assault Shotgun
Manufactured by: Maxwell Atchisson
Release date: 2005
The AA12 can fire five 12-gauge shells per second. Because the recoil is engineered at just 10 percent of that of a normal shotgun, it can be fired from the hip with only one hand.
The Atchisson also fires a high-explosive or fragmentation grenade called a FRAG-12 round up to a distance of 175 meters with equal efficiency.
Designed for long-term combat use, tests have shown the AA12 can fire up to 9,000 rounds without jamming or having to be cleaned.
All the user needs to do is hold the trigger down for four seconds to empty the 20 round drum at a target.
ADAPTIV Tank Invisibility Cloak
Manufactured by: BAE Systems
Release date: 2013
Developed and patented in Sweden, ADAPTIV functions over infra-red and other electronic frequencies. It can blend the coated vehicle into the background, making it seem to be invisible — and it can also shape the returning signal to appear like something else entirely.
A tank, for example, can be made to look like a car. These pictures show both the combat vehicle disappearing and reshaping itself into the outline of an automobile.
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