L-Ne · Historical Source Library

News Source Record

# News Source Record

**L-Ne / Open-source news extract** — Original media coverage of unmanned aerial systems.

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Collection date | 22 April 2011 |
| Platform | Quiet Systems |
| Data label | Open-source news record // LRRK collection product |
| Handling | Public-source material. Image rights require separate verification before publication. |
| Scale | Global |
| Language | English |
| Terms matched | armed; Predator drones; Unmanned US drones; drones |

## Bibliographic

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Outlet | BBC News |
| Title | Libya: US to deploy armed drones - Robert Gates |
| Dateline | — |
| First publisher | yes |
| Original URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13166441 |
| Archive URL | — |
| Dedup key | 2011-04-22|bbc-news|gates-two-predators-nato-libya |
| Source grade | A1 |

## Record

**Verified extract — [Fact — A1]** BBC reported Defence Secretary Robert Gates saying armed US Predator drones would fly over Libya with Obama's authorisation, giving "precision capability." Gates said two Predators were being made available to Nato as needed — a "modest contribution." General James Cartwright said the first mission flew Thursday but turned back for bad weather; the drones could fly lower than fighter jets and were "uniquely suited for urban areas." Libya's deputy foreign minister Khaled Khaim told the BBC they would "kill more civilians and this is very sad." Gates denied "mission creep" and said there were still no plans for US "boots on the ground": "There's no wiggle room in that." The piece also reported McCain in Benghazi (AFP for a crowd chant), a seized Tunisian-border post, Misrata fighting, cluster-bomb remnants (Orla Guerin said she had seen the bombs), and Clinton's condemnation of "vicious attacks."

**Kinematic object.** Two armed Predators offered to Nato for Libya; first sortie aborted for weather.

**Coverage frame.** military

## Source integrity

- Why this is treated as an original: BBC first-day report with a Khaim-to-BBC quote not on the Guardian page.
- Wire reprint status: Pentagon event shared; AFP used only for the Benghazi chant. Not a reprint of another paper.
- What was excluded: the 23 April first-strike confirmation.

## LRRK relevance

Watch / Campaign. A Watch desk would have recorded two Predators for Nato, a weather abort, and a Libyan deputy FM civilian-casualty warning given to BBC.

*LRRK — security assurance for systems that sense, move, and act.*

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