British drones in Afghanistan

UK operates first drone strike from own territory

The strike of a British Reaper drone, which took place in Afghanistan on Tuesday, is the first drone to be used in an attack controlled from a base situated on UK soil.

RT,

2 May, 2013

“A Reaper remotely piloted aircraft system, operated by pilots from 13 Squadron located at RAF Waddington, has fired a weapon during a mission supporting UK forces on the ground in Afghanistan,” a spokesperson of UK’s Ministry of Defense said.

No further details are available as the country’s military abstains from discussing details of specific missions for the sake of operational security.

Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) has previously controlled British and US Air Force Reaper and Predator drones from the Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, US during missions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.

The strike comes amid protests against the British use of unmanned aerial operation, as 600 campaigners staged a rally at the Waddington base in eastern England over the weekend.

According to UK’s armed forces minister, Andrew Robathan, the country’s military launched more than 2000 unmanned aerial vehicle missions between October 2006 and December 31, 2012.

Britain remains the only nation that is sanctioned by Washington to purchase and operate armed MQ-9 Reaper drones, produced by the US-based General Atomics Aeronautical Systems company.

The Royal Air Force has been using UAVs of such a class since 2008, with 13 Squadron currently being in possession of 10 Reapers, all stationed in Afghanistan.

The MQ-9 Reaper is the first hunter-killer drone designed for long-endurance, high-altitude surveillance, which is larger, heavier and more capable than the earlier MQ-1 Predator version.

It’s primarily used to gather intelligence on enemy activity on the ground, but also carries bombs and Hellfire missiles for precision strikes.

US Navy gets their first squadron of drones

US Navy gets their first squadron of drones

RT,

2 May, 2013

On Thursday the Navy inaugurated the Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 35, or the “Magicians,” a fleet made up of both manned and unmanned vehicles that will accompany US warships into battle across the world. Included in that fleet are eight traditionally piloted helicopters and a yet to be determined number of Fire Scout MQ-8 B drones, each capable of being operated at a distance of 110 miles away and maintaining flight for half-a-day straight.

Until this week, the Pentagon has only allocated unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, to the US Air Force. According to the AP, most Navy drones in use until this point have been operated by contractors overseen by military personnel.

The Navy’s brand new fleet will be unveiled at the Naval Air Station North Island base on Coronado, near San Diego, California on Thursday, but the Associated Press quotes Lt. Aaron Kakiel as saying that the “Magicians” will only start appearing on one of the force’s new littoral combat ships in about a year.

One of those so-called LCS boats, the USS Freedom, was just two months ago deployed to Southeast Asia where it will likely spend the remainder of 2013 off the coast of Singapore. According to a press release issued by the Navy, “lessons learned from logistics and maintenance support during the transit and port visits will inform follow-on rotational deployments as well as the overall LCS program.”

The addition of drones to the Navy’s arsenal comes 100 years after that division of the US military first used air detachment vehicles, but also comes amid escalating public outcry over the use of unmanned aircraft. Despite being tied to upwards of thousands of civilian casualties, the Pentagon continues to stand by the use of drones in oversea antiterrorism operations, and just last week Air Force Major General H.D. Polumbo confirmed that US drones will remain in Afghanistan even after the last American troops are expected to leave in 2014.

Meanwhile, the UK used an armed drone for the first time on Thursday. Just days earlier roughly 400 anti-war demonstrators marched in Lincolnshire to protest the opening of the British Royal Air Force’s drone program.