Owen Bowcott and Paul Lewis report There is a second-and-a-half delay between the RAF operator pressing his button and the Hellfire rocket erupting from the aircraft he is controlling, circling in the sky above Afghanistan.
That’s a long time in modern warfare, but the plane is an unmanned “drone” and its two—strong crew are 13,000km at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada. Right now, the Reaper is being commanded from a console with twin video screens shaped to resemble a plane’s cockpit.
The UK has five Reapers like this one operating in Afghanistan. With a wingspan of 20 metres, they are 11m long, reach a top speed of 250 knots (463kph) and usually carry four Hellfire rockets and two laser—guided bombs. These Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) — which rely on fibre optic cables, European “upstations” and satellite links — are part of an international trend towards remote combat. RAF—controlled Reapers used their weapons in Afghanistan 123 times in the first 10 months of 2010.
British forces are also using smaller drones, such as Lockheed Martin’s hand—launched Desert Hawk. The lightweight surveillance aircraft is flown by Royal Artillery controllers to provide army patrols with “over the hill” vision for improved reconaissance. Last summer the UK Ministry of Defence ordered GBP3m worth of an enhanced version that will give troops in Afghanistan “greater situational awareness” and upgraded “target acquisition” capabilities. On the US side, there were more than 100 CIA—led drone strikes in Pakistan last year and the Pentagon is about to deploy its intimidatingly named Gorgon Stare airborne surveillance system, a multi—image video device for tracking suspects across large areas.
That’s a long time in modern warfare, but the plane is an unmanned “drone” and its two—strong crew are 13,000km at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada. Right now, the Reaper is being commanded from a console with twin video screens shaped to resemble a plane’s cockpit.
The UK has five Reapers like this one operating in Afghanistan. With a wingspan of 20 metres, they are 11m long, reach a top speed of 250 knots (463kph) and usually carry four Hellfire rockets and two laser—guided bombs. These Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) — which rely on fibre optic cables, European “upstations” and satellite links — are part of an international trend towards remote combat. RAF—controlled Reapers used their weapons in Afghanistan 123 times in the first 10 months of 2010.
British forces are also using smaller drones, such as Lockheed Martin’s hand—launched Desert Hawk. The lightweight surveillance aircraft is flown by Royal Artillery controllers to provide army patrols with “over the hill” vision for improved reconaissance. Last summer the UK Ministry of Defence ordered GBP3m worth of an enhanced version that will give troops in Afghanistan “greater situational awareness” and upgraded “target acquisition” capabilities. On the US side, there were more than 100 CIA—led drone strikes in Pakistan last year and the Pentagon is about to deploy its intimidatingly named Gorgon Stare airborne surveillance system, a multi—image video device for tracking suspects across large areas.
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