There was a time when all the world's military drone strikes were directed from a small base in Nevada. No more. In a first, the United Kingdom has carried out a strike in Afghanistan by pilots controlling the drone from within Britain.
The nature of the strike is unclear. The Ministry of Defence said it "does not discuss details of specific missions for operational security reasons," according to a statement obtained by Flight, which reported the strike was carried out Tuesday by an armed Royal Air Force MQ-9 Reaper -- most likely launched from Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan. The ministry merely confirmed that one of its Reaper drones, controlled by pilots from the Royal Air Force's 13 Squadron at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire fired a weapon "supporting U.K. forces on the ground in Afghanistan."
It was only a week after the RAF began to control its drones from home territory. Before, the RAF controlled its squadron of five Reaper drones -- each armed with up to two 500-pound GBU-12 Paveway bombs and four AGM-114 Hellfire missiles -- from Creech, a U.S. Air Force base in Nevada and a headquarters for Afghanistan's remotely-operated drone war. According to Flight, Britain's drones have used their weapons more than 380 times in Afghanistan since 2007 for a "combined total of 45,000 flight hours." Those strikes were conducted remotely from Creech.
London reportedly finished its drone control center at Waddington sometime in late 2012, according to The Guardian. It includes three remote operating stations. "We aren't flying any more operations than we were before, but with the time differences between the U.S., Afghanistan and the U.K., it is now possible for pilots at Waddington to work in relay with the those in the U.S.," one source told the newspaper in late April.
The Ministry of Defence also reportedly "insists" that it only uses the drones in Afghanistan's Helmand Province, which is far narrower hunting ground than the one patrolled by the Pentagon and CIA's killer machines. It's also only a partial truth. British pilots have flown armed American drones over Libya as part of the exchange program at Creech. But it's unclear if any of the 145+ drone strikes carried out by the Pentagon in Libya were controlled by the RAF.
In any case, the strike from Waddington is a sign that the ability to control advanced attack drones has moved further beyond the U.S. -- while being first inculcated by the Pentagon. In recent years, Britain has spent more than three billion dollars on drone development, with plans to expand its drone arsenal from five Reapers, designed by defense contractor General Atomics, to 10 Reapers in 2013. The United Kingdom uses surveillance drones like the Desert Hawk, T-Hawk, the Black Hornet mini-drone, and is developing the WK450 Watchkeeper. Britain is also expected to add the joint French-British Telemos drone by the end of the decade. (It's still being designed.) Word is still out whether the RAF will pick up BAE Systems's stealthy Taranis to replace its aging bomber fleet, depending on whether the drone's 2013 flight tests go well.
"There is a general expectation across defence, academia and industry that unmanned aircraft will become more prevalent, eventually taking over most or all of the tasks currently undertaken by manned systems," noted a 2011 Ministry of Defence joint doctrine publication. (.pdf) "This view is strongly reflected in current government policy." Provided it has the bases to launch its drones, London can now control them from home.
