UK drones round-up: Afghan missions up; combat, hydrogen and solar powered UAVs unveiled http://neoconopticon.wordpress.com/2010/07/21/uk-drones-round-up-afghan-missions-up-combat-hydrogen-and-solar-powered-uavs-unveiled/

A month after a senior UN official condemned the CIA drone strike programme as creating a “PlayStation mentality” that could spread to other countries, Janes has reported that UK unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations in Afghanistan have reached a new high.

In the six months to May 2010, the British Army’s Elbit Systems Hermes 450 and Lockheed Martin Desert Hawk 3 flew “nearly 9,000 hours combined in just over 4,500 sorties”. UK forces have also reportedly launched attacks using armed drones over 80 times since May 2008, yet all requests for information on their use and resulting civilian casualty figures have so far been refused.