US Air Force Tiers
- Tier N/A: Small/Micro UAV. Role filled by BATMAV (Wasp Block III).
- Tier I: Low altitude, long endurance. Role filled by the Gnat 750.
- Tier II: Medium altitude, long endurance (MALE). Role currently filled by the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper.
- Tier II+: High altitude, long endurance conventional UAV (or HALE UAV). Altitude: 60,000 to 65,000 feet (20,000 m), less than 300 knots (560 km/h) airspeed, 3,000-nautical-mile (5,600 km) radius, 24 hour time-on-station capability. Complementary to the Tier III- aircraft. Role currently filled by the RQ-4 Global Hawk.
- Tier III-: High altitude, long endurance low-observable UAV. Same parameters as, and complementary to, the Tier II+ aircraft. The RQ-3 DarkStar was originally intended to fulfill this role before it was "terminated."
Read more about this topic: U.S. Military UAV Tier System
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“The opera house sparkled with tiers
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