I am seeing all kinds of pics comming out of Iraq of the jihadis mulling around
in the streets carrying RPG's and AK's.

I was just wondering if it would be possible to make a Predator drone with a
..50 caliber sniper rifle in it to pick these guys off. Say, put a magazine with
50 or 100 rounds onboard, loiter the drone over bad guy areas, spot them with
the Predator's optical systems, and zap them. Human snipers using the .50 have
kill shots from over 1 mile away.

Of course, linkage between the optical system and the gun's aim point would
have to be worked out.

I realize the Predators can fire the Hellfire (IIRC), but in civilian areas
using this may be too politically inexpediant.

Would the Predator be stable enough for something like that?

I would think, if it is, you could make a platform that could take care of
large numbers of enemy with minimum civilian damage and at low cost. Further,
the jihadis would live under the constant threat of instant termination
whereever they are identifiable by the Predator operator as weapons carrying
enemies.

Comments?
Dave