Strategic Comments  – Volume 15, Issue 4 – May 2009

The drones of war

Pakistan strikes highlight the increasing use of remotely piloted aircraft  

In mid 2008 the United States government substantially stepped up the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over northwest Pakistan. Since then, Hellfire missiles and the drones that launch them have entered the lexicon of mainstream news. Barack Obama’s new US administration has intensified the use of pilotless aircraft to target al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in Pakistan’s remote tribal areas. This has prompted renewed calls from the Pakistani government for the US to desist, because of civilian deaths and increasingly violent responses from militant groups (see box, right).

Pakistan is the most high-profile and divisive example of the increasing use of UAVs in recent conflict situations. However, more than 50 nations now use drones for reconnaissance, intelligence-gathering and targetting. The machines range from the strategic-reconnaissance Global Hawk, which can fly non-stop from California to Australia, to mini surveillance robots that look like props from a James Bond film.

The US is by far the biggest UAV user, with 18 different missions ranked in order of priority for the various classes of drone in the American inventory. Among these, the main UAV in operation is the Predator/Reaper family of aircraft flown across southwest Asia by military crews at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada.

The US Air Force has a fleet of 138 of these airframes, of which 118 are Predators and 20 Reapers. In March 2009, the IISS was invited to visit Creech for a behind-the-scenes look.

Predator development

First used in Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s, the original MQ-1 Predator A is a relatively flimsy drone as slow as a Cessna aircraft. Essentially a surveillance craft with a weapons capability, each Predator can carry two AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, but its range is only 400 nautical miles. It was followed into service in 2007 by the larger MQ-9 Reaper (initially called Predator B), the USAF’s first purpose-built hunter–killer UAV. This Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) has the dimensions of an A-10 or Harrier ground-attack aircraft, can carry four Hellfire 2P missiles and two GBU-12 500lb laser-guided bombs.

Reaper has a top speed of 240 knots, an endurance of 16 hours fully armed and a range of 3,200 nautical miles. Although a Reaper can fly as high as 50,000ft without weapons, it normally operates up to 25,000ft. Each MQ-9 aircraft can be disassembled and transported worldwide in air lifters such as the C-130 Hercules.

A standard Reaper Combat Air Patrol (CAP) consists of four airframes, sensors, a Ground Control Station (GCS) and satellite-link equipment. This costs $53 million, much less than the equivalent piloted aircraft.

The USAF has 34 Predator/Reaper CAPs and plans for 50. In 2006 it established 42nd Attack Squadron (42 AS) at Creech. Also based at Creech is the Royal Air Force (RAF) 39 Squadron, which has been on operations since October 2007. The UK wants a total of six Reapers to ensure round-the-clock capability, but so far 39 Squadron operates only two. The squadron’s mission is to provide persistent ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance) and ‘where required, offensive support to UK and coalition forces in operational theatres’.

Five RAF aircrew and up to ten ground engineers at Creech are still supporting coalition Predator operations in Iraq. However, as UK forces withdraw from that country, they will switch to reinforce UK Reaper operations over southern Afghanistan.

Operational roles

Unlike many squadrons in the US and UK, 42 AS and 39 Squadron personnel are on operations every day. Tasks are assigned through the Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) at al-Udeid air base in Qatar. From ground control stations at Creech, aircrew control Reaper operations via satellite links. In the highly secure ground control centre, the pilot sits in the left-hand seat and the sensor operator in the right. Pilots have a throttle and a joystick from where they can release bombs or fire missiles.

In front of the crew are ten computer screens, of which two provide high-resolution, real-time video imagery of the ground. Other screens provide the crew with information they need to fly the mission, such as satellite imagery or secure chat-room details. From 15,000ft the Reaper’s full-motion-video (FMV) feed can see an aerial rotating on a command vehicle seven miles away.

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