Armed UAVs

The Americans are now using Reapers in Afstan (first three pieces from Aviation Week and Space Technology, Nov. 19, subscriber only):

A U.S. Air Force General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper, the service’s big, new, missile-firing unmanned strike and reconnaissance aircraft, has dropped its first precision-guided bomb in Afghanistan. The Reaper fired a Hellfire missile during its first combat strike on Oct. 27 and has dropped two GBU-12 500-lb. laser-guided bombs.

The British soon will be:

The British Royal Air Force is expecting clearance to begin operating armed General Atomics Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles as early as next month. The Reaper is being operated by both the U.S. and the U.K. in Afghanistan...

RAF crews have carried out live-weapon drops from the Reaper (Predator B) using U.S. ranges. Jeffrey, speaking at a Royal Aeronautical Society UAV conference last week, said there had been “30 live GBU-12” releases for training purposes. Along with the Paveway II, the Hellfire missile is also a potential weapon for the RAF Reaper.

The RAF has ordered three Reapers, but has ambitions to acquire amore. The first three were purchased to meet an urgent operational requirement. The RAF UAVs likely will be based at Kandahar, Afghanistan, where the U.S. also operates Predators [emphasis added]. The RAF then can take advantage of U.S. maintenance and support.

The RAF flew its first operational sortie with the Reaper on Oct. 22. Since then, it has flown 11 sorties and 50 mission hours. The flights have been in support of both Army and Special Forces units. The RAF is also looking to train crews for the Reaper beyond the nine it already has.The air force wants to use the Reaper to help provide security for the 2012 Olympics [emphasis added], which are being hosted in London.

The Reaper missions are being flown from Creech AFB, Nev. Imagery from the Reaper is also sent to the U.K. from the U.S. using the Skynet satellite network for further exploitation...

The Germans are squeamish:

The politics in Germany also are complicated. There is resistance in some political quarters to the idea of arming unmanned aircraft. Germany is looking to buy a medium-altitude UAV, with the Predator-B as a candidate. But opposition members have already signaled that they will resist the idea of the German air force using the system in an armed configuration, as the U.S. Air Force often does. The German platform decision is expected next year, with the goal of fielding the medium-altitude UAV in 2010.

To help assuage concerns, Stieglitz stresses that a UC[combat]AV would require a man-in-the-loop capable of intervening in the system’s mission all the way “until impact of the weapon.” Tough performance would also be required from the data links to virtually guarantee connectivity throughout a mission...

And so are we, even more so:

No Reapers for the CF

Or any other version of the Predator UAV. Pity:

Canada's air force is shopping for new, unarmed pilotless aircraft to help protect troops in Afghanistan.

The head of the air force, Lt.-Gen. Angus Watt, has ordered the program fast-tracked, and his staff plan to give special consideration to companies that can quickly deliver the so-called uninhabited aerial vehicles or UAVs...

The plan is a step back from a $500-million proposal that was rejected last spring by the federal cabinet. The original plan was to purchase 12 U.S.-made Predator drones, which can be equipped with Hellfire missiles.

The Predator proposal, part of the Conservative government's draft defence plan, was bounced back to air force planners after concerns were raised by senior ministers about the military sole-sourcing yet another defence contract.

The air chief also says the technology hasn't evolved sufficiently.

"For a while there, we flirted with technology," Watt said in a recent interview.

"We have walked back from that flirtation. That doesn't mean we are not going to pursue UAVs, but I think we have a little more realistic view of the capabilities of the UAVs."

Watt said technology that would deliver a 226-kilogram bomb, or fire a missile at a target, without humans nearby makes him nervous.

"I think it would be a stretch for us," Watt said.

"The reason being is: we in Canada like to have a man in the loop dropping weapons and shooting weapons at people [doesn't bother the Brits though]...