Game of Drones.

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVS, also known as drones, are aircraft either controlled  autonomously by a pre-programmed mission code or by pilots from the ground. There are dozens of different types of drones, but they basically fall into two categories which are reconnaissance/surveillance and those that are armed with weaponry. The use of drones has grown quickly in recent years because unlike manned aircraft they can stay airborne for many hours; they are more cost effective than military aircraft and they are flown remotely so there is no danger to the flight crew.

British and US Reaper and Predator drones are physically in Afghanistan and Iraq. They are controled via satellite from Nellis and Creech USAF base outside Las Vegas, Nevada. Ground crews launch drones from the conflict zone and once launched, the drone is given to a controller located in specially designed trailers in the Nevada desert. One person controls the drone, another operates and monitors the cameras and sensors, while a third person is in contact with the customer’s ground troops and commanders in the war zone. The first use of  armed drones was in the Balkans war. Since then their use has dramatically escalated in Afghanistan, Iraq and in the CIA’s undeclared war in Pakistan.

Game of Drones.

The US has two separate squadrons of armed drones which are run by the US Air Force and the CIA. Through the use of drones, the US Air Force has increased the number of combat operation by 600% over the past six years. At any time there are at least 36 American armed UAVs over Afghanistan and Iraq. The CIA have been using drones in Pakistan and other countries to assassinate terrorist leaders. While this program was initiated by the Bush Administration, it has increased under Obama and there have been 41 known drone strikes in Pakistan since Obama became President. Unfortunately the use of drones isn’t perfect and for every militant leader killed, ten civilians have died.

Drones in the UK.

The UK has several different types of armed and surveillance drones in Iraq and Afghanistan and others in the production or development. The UK began using armed drones in Afghanistan in Oct 2007 after purchasing three Reapers from General Atomics in 2007. The Ministry of Defense confirmed in June 2008 that a British Reaper UAV had fired its weapons for the first time, but details were not given. In March 2009, the Daily Telegraph reported that British drones had been used ten times in armed strikes.

Watchkeeper.

The UK has several types of surveillance drones, most notably Watchkeeper, a drone jointly produced by Israeli company Ebit and Thales UK. The first ten were built in Israel and then production was transferred to a specially built facility in Leicester. Testing took place at Aberporth, in Wales, and Watchkeeper entered service in 2011 for the Royal Artillery.

Growing Concern.

The use of drones is  ”targeted killing” as said by Philip Alston, the UN’s special reporter. He has repeatedly tried to get the US to explain how they justify the use of drones to target and kill individuals under international law. In a report to the UN he has said the US government, and by implication, the UK government “should specify the bases for decisions to kill rather than capture particular individuals …. and should make public the number of civilians killed as a result of drone attacks, and the measures in place to prevent such casualties”.