Drone warfare

Fox News reports that a US airstrike destroyed an unarmed ISIS drone, but it wasn’t as exciting as you might think;

Pentagon sources told Fox News that the “remotely piloted aircraft” was a commercial drone being used to monitor battlefield movements.

A CJTF spokesman told Fox News that the drone was seen being operated from a car, and when the drone was put back in the car, it was destroyed.

The time of observance to destruction was 20 minutes, the spokesman said.

There were no immediate answers to how the drone was acquired.

So, there was no spectacular shoot down of the aircraft or a dog fight, but they probably got the operator, too, so there’s feather for our cap. Syrian government forces claim they shot down a US drone which was flying over Syrian troops and there was no ISIS force in the neighborhood, according to AFP;

A military source, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the drone was not immediately identified as being American but was shot down as a hostile aircraft.

“As soon as it entered Syrian air space, we considered it to be gathering security and military information on Syria’s territory,” the source in Damascus said.

[…]

The US military confirmed losing communication with a Predator drone over Syria on Tuesday and said it was looking into claims the aircraft was shot down.

A few days ago, a US drone reportedly took out one of the planners of the 2013 Nigerian mall attack according to UPI;

A U.S. drone strike Thursday in Somalia killed Adan Garar, an al-Shabaab militant suspected of planning a deadly attack on the Westgate shopping center in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2013, the Department of Defense confirmed Wednesday.

The drone struck a vehicle carrying Garar near the town of Diinsoor, Somalia, early Thursday.

[…]

“Garar was a key operative responsible for coordinating al-Shabaab’s external operations, which target U.S. persons and other Western interests in order to further al-Qaida’s goals and objectives,” a statement from the Pentagon said. “He posed a major threat to the region and the international community and was connected to the Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya. His death has dealt another significant blow to the al-Shabaab terrorist organization in Somalia.”

I’d much rather that they see it coming, but whatever works.

Category: Terror War