Britain doubles armed drones fleet

Britain will double the number of armed Royal Air Force drones in Afghanistan to 10 with the new aircraft to be operated remotely from Britain, it was announced here Tuesday. A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman confirmed that pilots based at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, southern England, would fly the five recently-bought unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The news was first revealed early today by the Guardian newspaper. The hi-tech Reaper drones are primarily used to gather intelligence on enemy activity on the ground, but they also carry 500lb bombs and Hellfire missiles for precision strikes on insurgents. The spokeswoman said the new batch, known as 13 Squadron, will be officially "stood up" at a ceremony this Friday, although operation will not start immediately. "Reaper is the only remotely-piloted aircraft that is armed," the spokeswoman said. "On the rare occasions that weapons are used, the same strict rules are followed that govern the use of weapons on manned aircraft. "The vast majority of unmanned aircraft flying is surveillance and reconnaissance in support of our frontline troops, providing them with vital intelligence and helping to save lives in Afghanistan. "Since 2006 they have provided over 100,000 hours of persistent intelligence." Operations of the five new UAVs are expected to begin within six weeks, the Guardian reports. RAF crews will continue to fly the other UK Reaper aircraft remotely from the USA Creech Air Force Base in Nevada.