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 October 2012 |
| Platform | Quiet Systems |
| Data label | Open-source news record // LRRK collection product |
| Handling | Public-source material. Image rights require separate verification before publication. |
| Scale | National |
| Language | English |
| Terms matched | drones; Reaper; unmanned aerial vehicles; UAVs |

## Bibliographic

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Outlet | The Guardian |
| Title | UK to double number of drones in Afghanistan |
| Dateline | — |
| First publisher | yes |
| Original URL | https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/22/uk-double-drones-afghanistan |
| Archive URL | — |
| Dedup key | 2012-10-22|the-guardian|uk-double-reapers-afghanistan-waddington |
| Source grade | A1 |

## Record

**Verified extract — [Fact — A1]** The Guardian reported the UK would double armed RAF drones in Afghanistan and, for the first time, control them from Britain. Five newly bought American-made Reaper UAVs would go to Afghanistan, expected within six weeks, flown by pilots at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, from a hub built over 18 months. Existing five Reapers, used against suspected insurgents in Helmand, had been flown from Creech AFB, Nevada. After standing up XIII Squadron that Friday the UK would have 10 Reapers in Afghanistan; post-2014 basing undecided. By end of September the five Reapers had flown 39,628 hours and fired 334 laser-guided Hellfire missiles and bombs. In the first 3.5 years: 23,400 hours and 176 missiles; figures nearly doubled in the past 15 months. MoD said only four Afghan civilians had been killed since 2008 and it does not know how many insurgents died. David Cameron in December 2010 claimed 124 insurgents killed; defence officials said they did not know the source. EU/CAA rules limited UK UAV flying, including around Aberporth. Relocation of 39 Squadron from Creech would begin in the new year.

**Kinematic object.** Ten RAF Reapers (five new) in Afghanistan; ground-control at RAF Waddington and Creech

**Coverage frame.** military

## Source integrity

- Why this is treated as an original
- Wire reprint status: Guardian original (“the Guardian can reveal”). Not a wire.
- What was excluded

- URL date 2012/oct/22 is the publication path.
- Living Under Drones and Noor Khan High Court material on the same page is background, not the exclusive.

## LRRK relevance

Campaign / Control Fabric. First UK-based remote combat control of armed Reapers.

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

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