U.S. Army… Reaper Resources (UAS/UAV)

[SatNews] Stepen Trimble of Flightglobal.com is the source of a report that the U.S. military has decided to arm unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) that are already flying two constant surveillance patrols over Libya.



Barack Obama on April 20th authorized the US Air Force to weaponise two combat air patrols of Predator UAVs, said Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, but it was not clear if his reference was to the MQ-1 Predator or the MQ-9 Reaper , both manufactured by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI).



Cartwright said, “What they will bring that is unique is their ability to get down lower, therefore to be able to get better visibility on targets that have now started to dig themselves in into defensive positions. They’re uniquely suited for areas —urban areas where you can get collateral damage. We’re trying to manage that collateral damage, obviously, so that’s the best platform to do that with.”.



The USAF was forced to abort the first mission by armed UAVs on April 21st, due to bad weather, the general stated. Until now, the U.S.A.F. has not publicized the deployment of two Predator combat air patrols over Libya for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. The only UAV acknowledged by the U.S.A.F. to have participated in the Libyan conflict was the Northrop Grumman-manufactured RQ-4 Global Hawk, flying missions out of Sigonella Air Base, Italy. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told reporters that the Predators involved in the Libya operations are not based physically in Afghanistan, but he did not state where the Predator flights originated. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on April 1stassumed control of Operation Unified Protector to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which authorized force to prevent Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi from attacking rebel troops.