No longer just a US toy, drones go global
FARNBOROUGH: Having revolutionised warfare for the United States in the last 15 years, unmanned aerial drones are going global as the number of countries building and operating them soars.
Until now, such systems have largely been the exclusive purview of the US and a handful of allies. Washington allowed Britain, Italy and Turkey to buy US-built drones and operate them usually alongside US forces, but largely rejected requests from other nations keen to acquire the same capability.
But that is quickly changing. US firm General Atomics expects to make its first sales of an unarmed version of its Predator drones this year, with Latin America and the Middle East seen to be particularly fertile markets.
“There has been very considerable international interest,” retired US Navy Rear Admiral Christopher Ames, now director of international strategic development for the company, told Reuters at this week’s Farnborough International Airshow.
Flanked by video screens showing the firm’s products in action in Iraq, Afghanistan and tracking pirates over the Indian Ocean, Ames said their combat record spoke for itself.
Not only were human air crew not put at risk, he said, but use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) also offered huge savings in fuel and personnel costs over conventional manned aircraft.