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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

U.S. Southern Command tests use of drones in counter-drug operations

WASHINGTON Ñ The U.S. military's Southern Command concluded a month-long evaluation of unmanned aerial vehicles during a series of long-range counter-smuggling missions called Operation Monitoreo, which ended May 27.   

ÒWe believe that in the course of conducting this evaluation, we were able to gather enough observations to determine that unmanned aircraft systems indeed have a positive future in supporting counter-drug operations," U.S. Navy Cmdr. Kevin Quarderer, a member of Southern Command's Innovation Program, said.

Officials said the Heron-1 medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV flew 10 surveillance missions from an air force base in El Salvador. They said Heron, operational since 2000, was linked to a U.S. Air Force E-2C Hawkeye airborne early-warning and control aircraft, which provided the UAV with target data.


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"Heron arrived at the Salvadoran air base April 29 and participated in 10 missions during the evaluation, flying more than 100 hours in direct support of counter-drug surveillance activities along Central America's Pacific coast," Southern Command said. "None of the missions Heron flew resulted in a drug bust, although the UAV did investigate suspected targets."

"The system is well tested and reliable," Ted Venable, a program manager for Southern Command, said. "It can remain on patrol longer than some manned aircraft may be able to do."

Officials said the U.S. military would study the images provided by Heron as well as the suitability of the platform for counter-smuggling missions. They said a decision for procurement was not expected in 2009.

"Despite the UAV's ability to operate unassisted by other airframes, the Heron did not always work alone during its deployment to El Salvador," Southern Command said. "The aircraft and its support crew occasionally worked cooperatively with manned platforms supporting the same mission. Heron was used to investigate suspected targets spotted by E-2C Hawkeyes operating from the CSL, and in one instance, the UAV even handed over a suspected target to Salvadoran Cessna-337 patrol aircraft for further monitoring."

The Heron is produced by the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries, which has sold or leased Heron to several countries, including Canada, Germany, India and Turkey. In the United States, IAI has been represented by its subsidiary Stark Aerospace.



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