Pilotless drones vital in hunt for bin Laden

By CHRIS STETKIEWICZ

SEATTLE - Pilotless surveillance aircraft are expected to play a crucial role in guiding and protecting any US forces deployed in Afghanistan's rugged mountains.

Because of the growing public abhorrence of even minor war casualties, US military leaders are increasingly relying on inexpensive unmanned "drones" and satellite images to locate threats and targets.

"Unmanned aerial vehicles [UAVs] are going to be very important to this type of operation. They are the only way we are going to get timely feedback, reconnaissance and surveillance," said Bruce Byrum, a former US Marine Corps assistant deputy chief of staff for aviation.

UAVs cover a range of aircraft designed to monitor troops and weapons, locate communications gear or draw enemy fire away from friendly forces. They are slow, not particularly stealthy and expendable.

"Their main advantage is that you don't have to risk losing people," said Steven Zaloga, a missiles expert and senior analyst at aerospace consultancy Teal Group.

"You don't want to lose them [UAVs], but if you do it's not a crisis."

Already in use over Afghanistan, where one may have either crashed or been shot down, UAVs also monitor ground forces in Iraq, which claims to have shot down two unmanned Predator spy planes.

The $US3.2 million ($7.9 million) Air Force RQ-1B Predator, made by General Atomics, can be remotely operated and fly for nearly 24 hours at a time, cruising as high as 7500m and as fast as 225 km/h.

At that speed the plane, which has a wingspan of 14.6m and weighs 1020kg when fully equipped, is vulnerable to missiles and anti-aircraft fire.

"It's not difficult to shoot it down, and it's also got a reliability problem," Mr Zaloga said. "It [the lost plane in Afghanistan] could have flown into a mountain."

A more advanced UAV used by the US military is Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk, which has been flown nonstop as far as Australia from the US and can be operated by satellite.

By contrast, the Predator is controlled by ground operators who must be relatively near the aircraft.

If US troops try to zero in on Islamic militant Osama bin Laden, UAVs might provide the final clues.

Experts say the search for bin Laden would start by using the knowledge of the Afghan opponents of the ruling Taleban, known as the Northern Alliance.

Using their intelligence on bin Laden's whereabouts, US forces would use signals intelligence technology from satellites to monitor any radio or phone conversations. From there UAVs could patrol more locally.

"Either you find these people or you get them to shoot you down, so you know where they are," said James McAleese, of a Virginia law firm specialising in national security.

The remote strongholds of the Taleban and bin Laden's followers provided ideal conditions for UAVs, said Mr McAleese.

"These people are probably hiding in caves and moving at night. So you can look for them using infrared cameras and thermal imaging. UAVs are perfect for this," he said.

If Predators were flying over Afghanistan, that suggested US forces were in Pakistan.

"The Predator doesn't have great range, so that means we are operating from fairly close," Mr Zaloga said. "Soon you will see additional UAVs all over that area."

- REUTERS

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