As Cortright and others ponder the future of remote-control aerial killers and their impact on war and counterterrorism, drones are increasingly coming to shape the way the United States and other countries hunt and kill those they deem to be enemies. Peter Singer, author of Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the Twenty-First Century, best sums up the new drone reality: “The [drone] technology is here. And it isn’t going away. It will increasingly play a role in our lives…. The real question is: How do we deal with it?”58
APPENDIX: DRONE SPECIFICATIONS
MQ-1 PREDATOR
Primary Function: Armed reconnaissance, airborne surveillance, and target acquisition
Contractor: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.
Power Plant: Rotax 914F four-cylinder engine
Thrust: 115 horsepower
Wingspan: 55 feet (16.8 meters)
Length: 27 feet (8.22 meters)
Height: 6.9 feet (2.1 meters)
Weight: 1,130 pounds (512 kilograms) empty
Fuel Capacity: 665 pounds (100 gallons)
Speed: Cruise speed around 84 miles per hour (70 knots), up to 135 miles per hour
Range: Up to 770 miles (675 nautical miles)
Ceiling: Up to 25,000 feet (7,620 meters)
Armament: Two laser-guided AGM-114 Hellfire missiles
Crew: Two (pilot and sensor operator)
Unit Cost: $20 million (fiscal 2009 dollars; includes four aircraft, a ground control station, and a Predator primary satellite link)1
MQ-9 REAPER
Primary Function: Remotely piloted hunter-killer weapon system
Contractor: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.
Power Plant: Honeywell TPE331-10GD turboprop engine
Thrust: 900 shaft horsepower maximum
Wingspan: 66 feet (20.1 meters)
Length: 36 feet (11 meters)
Height: 12.5 feet (3.8 meters)
Weight: 4,900 pounds (2,223 kilograms) empty
Maximum takeoff weight: 10,500 pounds (4,760 kilograms)
Fuel Capacity: 4,000 pounds (602 gallons)
Payload: 3,750 pounds (1,701 kilograms)
Speed: Cruise speed around 230 miles per hour (200 knots)
Range: 1,150 miles (1,000 nautical miles)
Ceiling: Up to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters)
Armament: Combination of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, GBU-12 Paveway II, and GBU-38 JDAMs
Crew: Two (pilot and sensor operator)
Unit Cost: $53.5 million (fiscal 2006 dollars, includes four aircraft with sensors)
Initial Operating Capability: October 20072
NOTES
1. THE DEATH OF A TERRORIST
1. Declan Walsh, “Is Baitullah Mehsud Now Public Enemy No 1 for the US?” Guardian, April 5, 2009.
2. “41 Dead in Pakistan Suicide Bombing: Officials,” Agence-France Presse, December 25, 2010, http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/afp/41-dead-in-pakistan-suicide-bombing-officials/413540; “Pakistan Assessment 2012,” South Asia Terrorism Portal, http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/pakistan/ (accessed on February 19, 2013); Shahan Mufti, “Suicide Attacks a Growing Threat in Pakistan,” Christian Science Monitor, October 10, 2008.
3. Sabrina Tavernise, “Deaths at Hands of Militants Rise in Pakistan,” New York Times, January 14, 2009.
4. “Pro-Taliban Commander Threatens Benazir with Suicide Attacks,” AndhraNews, October 5, 2007, http://www.andhranews.net/Intl/2007/October/5/Taliban-commander-18068.asp; Bill Roggio, “Pakistan Implicates Baitullah Mehsud in Bhutto Assassination,” Long War Journal, December 28, 2007, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2007/12/pakistan_implicates.php. See also Philip Reeves, “Did Baitullah Mehsud Kill Benazir Bhutto?” All Things Considered, National Public Radio, January 16, 2008, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18159635.
5. “Taliban Commander Baitullah Mehsud,” Newsweek, April 3, 2009.
6. Bill Roggio, “Taliban Capture over 100 Pakistani Soldiers in South Waziristan,” Long War Journal, August 31, 2007, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2007/08/taliban_capture_over.php.
7. Imtiaz Ali and Craig Whitlock, “Taliban Commander Emerges as Pakistan’s ‘Biggest Problem,’” Washington Post, January 10, 2008.
8. White House, “Remarks by the President on a New Strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan,” press release, March 27, 2009, http://m.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-on-a-New-Strategy-for-Afghanistan-and-Pakistan/.
9. “Scenic Pakistani Valley Falls to Taliban Militants,” Associated Press, December 29, 2008.
10. Salman Masood, “Video of Flogging Rattles Pakistan,” New York Times, April 4, 2009. For the unbearably gruesome videos of the beheadings see “Video: Taliban Slaughter Pakistani Police and Residents Like Animals,” Islamization Watch (blog), April 22, 2009, http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2009/04/video-taliban-slaughter-pakistani.html.
11. “High-Profile Victories in the Battle against Terror,” Sunday Times (London), August 9, 2009.
12. “Profile: Hakimullah Mehsud,” BBC News, May 3, 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8219223.stm.
13. Imtiaz Gul, The Most Dangerous Place: Pakistan’s Lawless Frontier (New York: Viking, 2010), 15.
14. “Taleban, We Will Launch an Attack in Washington That Will Amaze Everyone in the World,” Sunday Times, April 1, 2009.
15. Bill Roggio and Alexander Mayer, “Charting the Data for US Airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004–2011,” Long War Journal, http://www.longwarjournal.org/pakistan-strikes.php (accessed in December 2011).
16. Bill Roggio, “Scores of Taliban Killed in Second US Strike in South Waziristan,” Long War Journal, June 23, 2009, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/06/seventeen_taliban_ki.php.
17. Nick Schifrin, “Near Miss: CIA Drone Almost Hits Taliban Chief in Pakistan,” ABC News, June 26, 2009, http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/International/story?id=7939317.