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RAF Target IED menace
39 Sqn Reaper destroys Taliban bomb factory
29 November 2010
THESE dramatic pictures show the moment when the RAF’s unmanned Reaper aircraft turned the tables on Taliban bombers.
The images, the first of their kind ever released by the MoD show the moment the aerial vehicle destroyed a bomb
39 Sqn Reaper destroys Taliban bomb factory
29 November 2010
THESE dramatic pictures show the moment when the RAF’s unmanned Reaper aircraft turned the tables on Taliban bombers.
The images, the first of their kind ever released by the MoD show the moment the aerial vehicle destroyed a bomb
factory and targeted and killed a Taliban fighter as he buried a deadly IED.
The footage taken from surveillance cameras on board the aircraft shows a 39 Sqn Reaper hovering above the Taliban compound before unleashing a precision missile which blasts through the building destroying the facility, but leaving the walls of the structure intact.
The mission was launched after an intelligence-gathering operation captured evidence of insurgent bomb makers preparing explosive devices.
Intelligence experts estimate that 4500 lbs of explosive material was destroyed - enough to make more than 100 IEDs.
In a separate operation a Taliban bomber clearly seen burying a device is targeted by the Reaper aircraft which fires a hellfire missile, killing him instantly. US Forces were In a separate operation a Taliban bomber clearly seen burying a device is targeted by the Reaper aircraft which fires a hellfire missile, killing him instantly. US Forces were later called in to destroy the crude explosive device.
British military spokesman Major General John Lorimer said: “This is the first footage the MoD has ever released of a Reaper in a weapons strike.
The footage taken from surveillance cameras on board the aircraft shows a 39 Sqn Reaper hovering above the Taliban compound before unleashing a precision missile which blasts through the building destroying the facility, but leaving the walls of the structure intact.
The mission was launched after an intelligence-gathering operation captured evidence of insurgent bomb makers preparing explosive devices.
Intelligence experts estimate that 4500 lbs of explosive material was destroyed - enough to make more than 100 IEDs.
In a separate operation a Taliban bomber clearly seen burying a device is targeted by the Reaper aircraft which fires a hellfire missile, killing him instantly. US Forces were In a separate operation a Taliban bomber clearly seen burying a device is targeted by the Reaper aircraft which fires a hellfire missile, killing him instantly. US Forces were later called in to destroy the crude explosive device.
British military spokesman Major General John Lorimer said: “This is the first footage the MoD has ever released of a Reaper in a weapons strike.
“It shows that insurgents do not move around Afghanistan placing IEDs with impunity. Using ISR platforms we are able to watch them and prevent them.”
IED strikes are the biggest killer of ISAF Forces in Afghanistan and are believed to be responsible for an estimated 80 per cent of fatalities.
IED strikes are the biggest killer of ISAF Forces in Afghanistan and are believed to be responsible for an estimated 80 per cent of fatalities.
RAF Reaper strikes insurgent IED team