The New U.S. “Smalls” Air Force Over Afghanistan

June 28, 2011

We've all seen the airplane-sized Predator and Reaper drones now flying and fighting over Afghanistan, Libya, Pakistan and Yemen. They're fairly big (the Predator has a 48-foot [15-m.] wingspan) and costly ($5 million each). But there are fleets of smaller and cheaper man-launched drones that have been, um, flying under the radar in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Even as U.S. troops begin pulling out of Afghanistan, the Army is preparing to send a veritable air force of an additional 300 such small drones into the Afghan campaign over the next three months. These hand-launched Raven and Puma drones provide security for forward operating bases, and the convoys streaming to them carrying everything from fuel to food.

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