21st Century Wire says…
If only the taxpayers really knew, and if only the BBC made a bigger deal of this debacle…
Ministry of Defence released their figures for crashes, breakdowns and missing drones, and it’s not looking too good. Included is a complete loss of half of its ‘Hermes 450’ drone fleet.
“Every crash is investigated so we can try to learn the lessons,” a spokesman said.
Indeed. It would be really nice if the public could learn what are the total DOD loses – the total cost its lost drones.
We live in hope…
The figure highlights the UK military’s huge reliance on technology, and particularly its deployment of unmanned aircrafts that on one hand minimizes risks to frontline troops and on the other, maximizes threats to civilian population of the target country.
The disclosure by the MoD raised concerns among campaigners about the reliability of using drones, as they say the smaller drones, which are more prone to crashes, are similar to those already being flown in UK airspace.
Chris Cole from watchdog website Drone Wars UK said: “The drone industry constantly talks up the supposed economic benefits of unmanned drones, but it is the civil liberties and safety implications that need real attention.”
“Without a significant improvement in reliability and safety, legislators should remain extremely skeptical about plans to open UK airspace to drones”, added Chris Cole.
Britain has spent more than £2 billion over the last five years, developing its unethical assassination drones, according to British media reports.
The deployment of such drones by the U.S. and its allies has led to killings of at least hundreds of innocent civilians, including many women and children, in the Middle East and South Asian regions.
READ MORE DRONE NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Drone Files
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