USA feuern in Afghanistan immer mehr Waffen von Drohnen ab

Reaper extends range in Afghanistan

Die US-Streitkräfte haben im vergangenen Jahr erstmals in Afghanistan mehr Waffen von unbemannten Systemen abgefeuert als von herkömmlichen bemannten Flugzeugen. Und der Anteil des Einsatzes von Drohnen steigt weiter, wie Reuters in einer Übersicht über die Daten berichtet:

Drones fired more weapons than conventional warplanes for the first time in Afghanistan last year and the ratio is rising, previously unreported U.S. Air Force data show, underlining how reliant the military has become on unmanned aircraft.

The trend may give clues to the U.S. military’s strategy as it considers withdrawing more troops from the country, while at the same time shoring up local forces who have struggled to stem a worsening Taliban insurgency. (…)
Yet as the force has shrunk, it has leant on unmanned aircraft more than ever, the Air Force data reveal, with drone strikes accounting for at least 61 percent of weapons deployed in the first quarter of this year.

Die ganze Story, die Reuters exklusiv hat, hier zum Nachlesen.

(Archivbild: An MQ-9 Reaper with an extended range modification from the 62nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron takes off on a sortie at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Dec. 6, 2015 – U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Robert Cloys)