MQ-1 Predator

The MQ-1/RQ-1 Predator is an Allied Nations unmanned aerial reconnaissance drone seen in Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.

Overview
The Predator appears after the People's Liberation Army and Allied Nations invade Venezuela. It is uncommonly seen flying below the helicopter altitude ceiling at high speed and can not be driven by the player, they are more commonly seen in Universal Petroleum controlled areas. Since it is an AN asset, the PLA will reward the player $50k upon its destruction.

The Predator has no actual in-game purpose and poses a small threat to the player along with all the other low flying aircraft which appear randomly in the game. It won't actually engage you, but it could run into you while you are in a helicopter and it hits you. Highly unlikely, but it can happen.

Tactics
The Predator is the only fixed-wing aircraft confirmed to be destructible in Mercenaries 2. However, the only way the player can destroy it is to be in the drone's flight path with a helicopter armed with miniguns or machine guns at the moment it spawns.

It flies at relatively low altitude (for a plane) faster than any helicopter and missile. It is impossible to destroy the drone with lock-on missiles because by the time the missile has locked-on and fired, the drone will be too far away for the missile to hit. It is also possible for you to be hit by it, causing you to be damaged (Depending on the toughness of the heli, at the most 75%) and the Predator will explode.

It is advised to use either a minigun or a heavy machine gun to shoot it down; only a handful of rounds are necessary to destroy the drone. It will explode in a large fireball, and debris will fall to the ground. A small fire will sometimes remain in midair where the drone was shot down. This is likely a glitch.

Real life
The Predator airframe has been in US service since the mid-late 1990s, and has most notably been used in controversial antiterrorism operations in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, and other nations in the Middle East.

Related pages

 * A-10 Thunderbolt II
 * F-117