A 
£50million robot spy plane, a Reaper, has had to be deliberately blown up to prevent its secrets falling into enemy hands. The MoD say that the Unmanned Air Vehicle was not brought down by enemy fire but crashed as result of an unspecified mechanical fault.
£50million robot spy plane, a Reaper, has had to be deliberately blown up to prevent its secrets falling into enemy hands. The MoD say that the Unmanned Air Vehicle was not brought down by enemy fire but crashed as result of an unspecified mechanical fault.The RAF's variant of the US General Atomics' hunter-killer Predator has been deployed in Afghanistan since October 2007 in the role of airbourne surveillance. The Reaper UAVs are being used to give all-weather 24/7 Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) capability providing ground troops with a clear picture of activity in their area of operations. Needless to say these pilotless spy planes are crammed full of sophisticated surveillance kit and gizmos - not the sort of stuff the US/UK military establishment would like to see ending up in Tehran, Beijing or Moscow. So the SBS were rushed to the crash site before the Taliban could get there and salvaged what they could; an RAF Harrier then dropped a 1000lb bomb on what was left - a grim end to £50m.
The RAF could only afford to have two Reapers in Afghanistan, so they'll be extra careful now with whoever's operating the remote control (preferably someone who doesn't own an abused Toyota Yaris). A third Reaper is however on order and is due for deployment in mid-summer.
The RAF is also considering purchasing a further 10 of the UAVs which together with associated kit could cost up to $1billion. Whether these additional aircraft will also be spy planes or whether they will be the pilotless hunter-killer versions (which is how the US deploy them), the MoD hasn't yet announced.
Link> The Sun: RAF blow up £50m spy plane
Link> MoD: Reaper takes to the air in Afghanistan
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