British deploy mini-UAVs to support troops

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- The British military has deployed miniature unmanned aerial vehicles to scope out threats in Afghanistan's volatile Helmand province.

Gunners from the British 1 Battery, 47 Regiment Royal Artillery are using tactical Desert Hawk III UAVs to provide reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities in the Upper Sangin Valley in Afghanistan's Helmand province.

Equipped with several cameras, the Desert Hawk UAVs add a bird's-eye view with real-time overhead video data, informing troops about enemy threats ahead, officials say. The data are crucial for operations in a region where the Taliban strike on almost 80 percent of the missions, the British Ministry of Defense reported.

The Desert Hawk, also deployed with U.S. troops in Afghanistan, requires only two people to launch the UAV. The troops use a bungee cord catapult or simply throw the aircraft into the wind. Officials say the Desert Hawk flies at altitudes of 300 to 500 feet.

"(The) mini UAV provides reconnaissance for the forward operating base and overlooks patrols," Lance Bombardier Ricky Talbot said in a statement.

"If the forward operating base wants us to check any vulnerable points or firing points, we can easily check them with the Desert Hawk."