UAVs typically fall into one of six
functional categories:
Target and decoy – providing
ground and aerial gunnery a
target that simulates an enemy
aircraft or missile;
Reconnaissance –
providing
battlefield intelligence;
Combat – providing attack
capability for high-risk missions;
Logistics – UAVs specifically
designed for cargo and logistics
operation;
Research and development –
used to further develop UAV
technologies to be integrated
into field deployed UAV aircraft;
and
Civil and Commercial UAVs –
UAVs specifically designed for
civil
and
commercial
applications.
Effectiveness of drone attacks
Armed predator drones were first
used in late 2001 from bases
in Pakistan and Uzbekistan, mostly
aimed at assassinating high profile
terrorist leaders inside Afghanistan.
Since then, there have been many
reported cases of such attacks taking
place in Afghanistan, Pakistan,
Yemen, and Somalia. The advantage
of using drone rather than a manned
The U.S. has claimed that the
Predator Drone strikes killed at least
nine senior al-Qaeda leaders and
dozens of lower-ranking operatives,
depleting its operational tier in what
U.S. officials described as the most
serious disruption of al-Qaeda since
2001. It was claimed that the
Predator Drone strikes took such a
toll on al-Qaeda that militants began
turning violently on one another out
of confusion and distrust.
By October 2009, the CIA claimed
to have killed more than half of the
20 most wanted al-Qaeda terrorist
suspects in targeted killings using
UAVs. By May 2010, counterterrorism officials said that UAV
strikes in the Pakistani tribal areas
had killed more than 500 militants
since 2008 and no more than 30
(5%) nearby civilians – mainly family
members who lived and traveled with
the targets.
Drone strikes and civilian casualty
According to the February 24, 2010
policy analysis "The Year of the
Drone" released by the New America
Foundation, the civilian fatality rate
42
Categorizing drones
aircraft in such cases is to avoid a
diplomatic embarrassment should the
aircraft be shot down and the pilots
captured, since the bom bings take
place in countries deemed friendly
and without the official permission of
those countries.
Page
too "dull, dirty or dangerous" for
manned aircraft.