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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, October 09, 2002

US Deploys Armed Drones in Iraq to Target Suspected Radar Site

As the United States shifts its military resources toward a new potential battleground in the Persian Gulf, it has begun to deploy weaponry that has proved successful in the Afghan campaign, including an armed drone that has been used to target defense assets on the ground and people.


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As the United States shifts its military resources toward a new potential battleground in the Persian Gulf, it has begun to deploy weaponry that has proved successful in the Afghan campaign, including an armed drone that has been used to target defense assets on the ground and people.

The Air Force began using the armed Air Force version of the RQ-IB Predator unmanned aerial vehicle in September, when it was flown over southern Iraq.

Equipped with two air-to-ground Hellfire missiles, the Predator fired on at least one target with partial success, US officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. One missile struck an Iraqi air defense target while the other missed, they said.

US and British planes have enforced no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq since the end of the Persian Gulf war.

Until now, only the CIA has flown armed Predators in combat - during the Afghan campaign.

Now the Air Force is getting in on the act, although the unarmed version of the UAV has been deployed in Iraq for some time for surveillance missions.

So far, officials said, the Air Force drone has not been used to target individuals - unlike the CIA's efforts in Afghanistan - just air defense assets on the ground in southern Iraq.

During the war in Afghanistan, CIA-operated drones targeted moving vehicles as well as individuals identified as al-Qaida, Taliban, or key sympathizers, such as Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

The May 2002 attempt on Hekmatyar's life failed, but other suspected terrorists have been successfully taken out by these unmanned aircraft, officials said.

Surveillance Video
In addition to carrying missiles, these armed variants of the Predator send back real-time surveillance video to military and government command centers, enabling US commanders to monitor ground activity.

Relatively new, the armed version of the Predator carries only air-to-ground munitions.

US officials said that equipping the drones with anti-aircraft stinger missiles is under consideration "for defensive purposes."

Most Predators in the Air Force's inventory remain unarmed, used for reconnaissance and queuing targets for manned aircraft - such as the AC130 Spectre gunship - to strike.

But they have become increasingly adaptable as the United States carries on its campaign against terrorist suspects.

As one defense official said last year, "UAVs are well-suited for the dull, dirty and dangerous missions" because of their use in very long missions, in areas that might be "dirty" due to chemical or biological weapons and "dangerous" because of the risk factor involved in flying into some areas.

They are not, however, any cheaper to operate. According to the Pentagon, an armed Predator costs as much as a manned aircraft, as its operation involves a sophisticated command-and-communications system.

The Predator can operate continuously for more than 24 hours and usually flies at around 15,000 feet, although it can fly as high as 25,000 feet.

The aircraft, which cost about $3 million each, are operated just like regular planes with a ground transportable station designed like a cockpit.

A pilot sits in the left seat, the officer in charge of the sensors sits in the right seat and behind them is a flight engineer. The cockpit control array includes a stick, rudder and all the other switches, buttons and lights any other plane would have.

The aircraft is 27 feet long with a wingspan of just over 48 feet.

Mixed Record?
Despite the eagerness to advance the technology, the UAV has suffered setbacks. Of the Navy's 60 Predators, nearly a third have been lost due to mishaps and incidents over enemy territory.

The CIA is also believed to have lost a few Predators in Afghanistan, although the agency is tight-lipped about the number of UAVs it possesses.

More recently, a Predator went down in Iraq on Sept. 5. Baghdad claims it was shot down near Basra while the Pentagon simply classified it as a combat loss.

In addition, a CIA-operated Predator was involved in a controversial incident in Afghanistan where a number of Afghans were killed near Zawar Kili in the east of the country.

US government officials said the UAV fired the missile at al-Qaida members. At the time, there were reports that one of the victims bore a resemblance to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

The US claims were disputed by locals, who said the victims were scrap metal dealers who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Source: agencies


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