The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan
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Dirty Little Secrets
The Al Qaeda Air Force
by James Dunnigan
November 20, 2005
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
In September, 2005, Pakistani troops captured an al Qaeda/Taliban base near
the Afghan border. In addition to Pakistani and foreign terrorists captured,
there was a great deal of material taken as well. This included guns, ammo,
communications gear, laptops, and what was described as a “Chinese UAV”.
Actually, it was a fairly large (bright yellow) remote control aircraft. A
hobby item, actually. One of the Pakistani reporters later found an identical
one in a big city hobby shop, selling for $55. The aircraft was made in China.
The Pakistani army reported that the “Chinese UAV” was equipped with a video
camera and transmitter, although the army did not release any details on
that.
It turns out that China (and Taiwan) are major manufacturers of radio
controlled (RC) aircraft for hobbyists. One such model, bright yellow and
weighing six pounds, was found in the catalog of a Chinese manufacturer.
American troops, usually RC aircraft hobbyists, have modified such aircraft to
carry a video camera and a transmitter, and use them in Iraq. Such field
expedient UAVs don’t have much range (about a kilometer), and can only stay in
the air for about 30 minutes per sortie. But these things do the job, giving
the troops a view of what’s behind the next hill, or lurking in the alleyways they
are about to pass. There’s no reason the al Qaeda gang up in the mountain could
not have used their little (well, these things have a wing span of 5-6 feet) RC
aircraft for more serious matters. As the old saying goes, never underestimate
the enemy.
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