By andrew chuter
Published: 18 Apr 16:06 EDT (12:06 GMT)
Defense News
LONDON - One of the Royal Air Force’s two Reaper UAVs operating in Afghanistan has crashed following a suspected mechanical failure.
The British military purchased the General Atomics-developed MQ-9 Reaper, formerly known as the Predator B, as part of an urgent operational requirement to give troops fighting Taliban insurgents in the Helmand Province better intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance capabilities (ISTAR).
Two of the vehicles were delivered to the British in Afghanistan late last year; one crashed in the late evening of April 9. The third Reaper ordered by the Ministry of Defence will not be delivered until midyear.
In a statement, the MoD said the vehicle “made a forced landing whilst on an operation over a remote unpopulated area of southern Afghanistan. Sensitive items were recovered and the remaining wreckage was destroyed. The reason for the forced landing is under investigation; however, mechanical issues are suspected.”
The MoD declined to comment on whether another Reaper would be purchased immediately to plug the hole in British ISTAR capabilities. However, it is known that plans were afoot to purchase another four to six vehicles before the crash.
In January, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible sale of up to 10 MQ-9s with associated ground stations to the British military in a deal that could cost up to $1 billion.
It’s the first crash of a military Reaper since its introduction into service with the U.S. Air Force in Afghanistan last year. The vehicle offers greater performance and a much increased payload over the earlier General Atomics Predator A.
Unlike their U.S. counterparts, the British vehicles are not currently armed. However, an MoD spokesman conceded that in the near future, the UAVs were likely to carry precision-guided bombs and missiles.
“We are in the process of procuring GBU-12 precision-guided bombs and Hellfire P laser-guided missiles,” he said.
April has been a bad month for the Predator family. The U.S. Air Force lost two Predator MQ-1s in the space of a week earlier this month in Iraq.
British Reapers are based at Kandahar in Afghanistan but operated by personnel from the RAF’s 39 Squadron based at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, where a U.S./U.K. Combined Joint Predator Task Force has been in existence for several years.
When the first British Reaper arrived in Kandahar, Air Chief Marshal Sir Glen Torpy, chief of the Air Staff, described its introduction into service as a “major milestone for the RAF, which will significantly enhance the U.K.’s surveillance capability in Afghanistan.”
The MoD wasn’t prepared to discuss operational issues resulting from the crash, but one MoD source said he expected the shortfall in ISTAR capability would be covered by U.S. assets over Afghanistan.
Aside from the Reaper, the British also have several Elbit-built Hermes 450 UAVs operating in Afghanistan under a pay-as-you-fly arrangement with contractor Thales UK.
The deal got under way last year as a stop-gap to provide ISTAR capability ahead of the launch of the British Army’s Watchkeeper UAV program.
The first of the new Watchkeeper vehicles, a much-modified Hermes 450, is due in service in late 2010, although work is under way to see if the system can be introduced earlier.
Britain’s only other tactical UAV, the Phoenix, was pensioned off last month.
E-mail: achuter@defensenews.com.
