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.
When ground forces request a capability such as FMV during an operation, the CAOC decides if that can best be met by Reaper. Forward-deployed Reapers taking off and landing at Kandahar are operated on a 'pool basis', that is shared between UK and US aircrews, with weapons provided from USAF stocks.
Among the sensors deployed on the MQ-9 Reaper is the Lynx Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). This provides an all-weather, day-or-night capability that is used to cross-cue a sensor ball that houses colour/monochrome day-light TV, low-light, image-intensified TV and infrared cameras with moving-target capability.
A laser range finder/designator provides the capability to precisely designate targets for laser-guided munitions. The aircraft is also equipped with a colour nose camera, generally used by the pilot for flight control.
Reaper crews are becoming very familiar with way Afghans go about their daily business. Because they do not have to rotate in and out of theatre every few months, UCAV crews on three-year tours in Nevada are well placed to tell when something unusual is happening in a village or along a road that they have been monitoring for months.
Firing weapons from a Reaper involves the same process as for conventional aircraft. Under standard NATO clearance to fire, 'cleared hot' means that the ground commander understands the effects of the weapon to be fired and has the right target coordinates and the full picture on any nearby friendly forces.
Reaper aircrew, supported by intelligence analysts sitting behind them, work with both JTAC and the ground commander to ensure that they have positive identification of the target site. If they are not satisfied, the Reaper crew won't drop – they usually have time to go round again. Although American and British personnel are tasked within the coalition, they work to national rules of engagement.
As an indication of UAVs' increasing military use, 42 AS amassed 4,722 flying hours during the year to 1 October 2008. During that time, they assisted in 113 instances of 'Troops in Contact' – double the number of combat operations they were involved in the previous year. Over 18 months, the RAF's 39 Squadron flew 3,800 hours and 391 missions.
Both units have thwarted IED (improvised explosive device) ambushes. They have also made a significant difference to offensive operations. Over-all, US Air Force UCAVs have made about 365 strikes in the last two years, which averages one every two days. This means that only around 2.5% of US Reaper sorties fired weapons; the remaining 97.5% of missions involved looking at the ground, watching over convoys and acting as eyes and ears over settlements, looking for the abnormal.
Commuting to combat
Both 42AS and 39 Squadron are 8,000 miles from the theatre of operations, and not in any physical danger. For this reason, UCAV flying has been likened to 'commuting to combat from northwest Las Vegas'. Despite this, the crews consider themselves completely involved. Each four-aircraft CAP system requires 30 personnel to support it around the clock, and operators say they do feel as though they are on the front line. As one weapons-system operator put it: 'In the way we deploy weapons, you actually see the delivery of the bomb to the bitter end ... so we are definitely emotionally involved.' UCAV operations are dependent on skilled tri-service personnel, some with on-the-ground operational experience, who try to ensure that any strike is accurate, proportionate and avoids civilian casualties.
Today's Predators and Reapers can only operate in a benign environment where the opposition has no air-defence capability. The reported shooting down of seven Georgian drones over Abkhazia in April and May 2008 showed that UAVs are not appropriate in all campaigns.
A jet-powered Predator C, designed to operate within contested airspace, made its maiden flight in April 2009. However, such a capability involves substantial extra costs, as would other enhancements like defensive-aids suites. An automatic take-off and land capability, plus a more accurate laser altimeter, might have prevented the USAF's loss of 12 Predators and Reapers in landing accidents. However, the more sophisticated UAVs become, the smaller their cost advantage over piloted aircraft will become.
For the foreseeable future, cruise missiles and piloted aircraft will continue to execute some missions more effectively than UAVs. This indicates that the best military air option will be a mix of all three.
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