The collision of a Russian fighter with an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea has reignited fears of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine. Close encounters between Russian and Western planes are not uncommon, but Tuesday’s incident has raised tensions because it forced the Americans to sink the drone in the sea.
What are kamikaze drones and why is Russia using them in Ukraine?
Further
Drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been used in and around war zones for decades. This is what we know about the MQ-9 Reapers and their typical conditions of use.
What is the MQ-9 Reaper?
The MQ-9 Reaper is a large drone made by military supplier General Atomics. It is remotely operated by a two-person team: the pilot and a crew member who is in charge of the sensors and guiding the weapons.
It is 11 meters long and over 22 meters wide. According to the US Air Force, it is used primarily as an “intelligence gathering tool” and has a “unique ability to conduct” precision strikes against “high-value targets that require immediate response.” Reapers can carry up to 16 Hellfire missiles, the same payload capacity as an Apache helicopter.
Like other drones, Reapers can fly at an altitude of 15 kilometers and spend up to 24 hours hovering over targets, making them especially useful for surveillance missions. More importantly, this is all taking place with a crew still on American soil, far from harm’s way.
Throughout 2018, the MQ-9 Reapers logged a total of 325,000 flight hours for the US air forces, 91% of which were in support of combat operations.
How common are drones?
UAVs have been in regular use since 1995, when the US deployed the Predator (predecessor to the Reaper) in support of NATO airstrikes in Serbia. In the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Predator gained a reputation for causing high numbers of civilian casualties during its so-called “precision strikes.”
The Predator was retired in 2017, when the Reaper became the main drone for the US air force.
The use of UAVs is now so widespread that, in 2017, the US air force already had more jobs for drone pilots than any other category. At the time there were 1,000 drone pilots versus 889 C-17 transport plane pilots and 803 F-16 fighter pilots.
How are drones used?
The Reapers deployed by the United States in the Black Sea region are only used for surveillance roles only.
Last year, US media reported that the US air force was considering selling older Reaper drones to Ukraine. Talks were frozen over fears of sensitive technology transfer and the danger of some Reapers being shot down.
The use of UAVs outside of war zones, a practice that intensified under former US President Barack Obama, has been surrounded by controversy. According to the non-profit organization specializing in investigative journalism, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ), during Obama’s two terms there were a total of 563 attacks in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, mostly with drones, against the 57 attacks of George W. Bush’s term. The BIJ estimated that between 384 and 807 civilians were killed.
In 2019, then-President Donald Trump repealed an Obama-era regulation that required US spy services to publish the number of drone strikes outside war zones. The use of drones accelerated even more during the presidency of the Republican tycoon. According to BIJ research, there were 2,243 drone strikes in the first two years of the Trump Administration alone, compared with 1,878 in the eight years of Obama’s presidency.
Which countries use Reaper drones?
By far, the United States is the largest buyer of Reaper drones. According to the US Congressional Research Service, its air forces have purchased 366 Reapers since 2007, at an average cost of $28 million.
The UK has also used the Reaper and its predecessor, the Predator, for years to support its military operations. Today the British Royal Air Force has nine active Reapers and several more on commission.
Like the United States, the United Kingdom has increased the use of Reaper drones in the last decade. In the four years of war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria (between 2014 and 2018), the United Kingdom deployed its Reaper drones in more than 2,400 missions, almost two a day.
France, Italy, Spain, India, Japan and the Netherlands also operate Reaper drones.
Many other countries have deployed UAVs of different designs. Pakistan and Turkey have developed their own programs, and Turkey regularly uses drones against Kurdish groups in northern Iraq and in its own country.
China has started supplying its own drones to various countries. Customers include the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Nigeria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, although not all countries have been able to deploy those they have purchased.
Translation by Francisco de Zárate.