If I had been under the constant threat of precision aerial bombardment for 8 years, I don't think I'd keep all of the dozen of my DRONES OF DEATH in a single hanger, in a location which the usually almost always imperfect Western intelligence agencies could, and did, know about. Saddam had mobile SCUD launchers, mobile anthrax labs even, we are told, but dang---only one fixed hanger location (And who would ever think to look there!?!) for his new WMD delivery device.
But Saddam had no edge on the "robot superjets" being developed by "the UK, USA, and Israel," craft which were "capable of far greater speeds and tighter manoeuvres than pilots can withstand."
Hani Hanjour's splendid tight, spiral descent in a "757," and his direct hit into the military's Counterterrorism Center located in the basement of the Pentagon is sure looking fucking robotic to me.
December 19, 1998 [13:17 GMT] BBC News, 'Drones of death' hit by Tornados,
Hangar and aircraft: General Sir Charles Guthrie said it was destroyed
The UK said on Saturday it had "severely dented" Saddam Hussein's capacity to build deadly drones capable of wiping out millions of people with anthrax.
Defence Secretary George Robertson told a news conference at the Ministry of Defence in London it was thought Saddam Hussein was planning to deploy these "drones of death" in southern Iraq.
He said the Iraqi leader had ordered work to begin in 1995 on the unmanned planes, codenamed L29s.
Mr Robertson said: "They have two under-wing weapon stores containing 300 litres of anthrax.
"If sprayed over a built-up area like Kuwait City it could kill millions of people."
He said: "We suspect he wanted to deploy these drones of death to southern Iraq, where they would have been a threat to his neighbours, and we hit these on Thursday night."
'Terrible weapons'
Addressing those who had questioned the air strikes policy, Mr Robertson said: "It must be absolutely right to destroy these terrible weapons."
The chief of the defence staff, General Sir Charles Guthrie, said the L29 project used specially adapted Czech-made trainer planes, similar to the British Hawk aircraft.
They are fitted with special aerosols under the wings which are capable of spraying anthrax which could travel up to five miles downwind of the aircraft.
Sir Charles said the hangar where around a dozen of the planes were based had been destroyed and Saddam Hussein's capability to wage war with chemical or biological weapons had been "severely dented".
Nick Cook, an expert on unmanned aircraft who works for the magazine Jane's Defence Weekly, described the L29 programme as a "desperate measure".
He said: "Crop-sprayers are necessarily low-flying planes, which could easily be shot out of the sky".
Robot jets of the future
More alarming, he said, could be the development of a second type of unmanned plane which uses a MiG 21 fighter jet.
The supersonic fighter, controlled by another MiG 21 in the vicinity, would be able to fly further afield and at far greater speeds than the crop-sprayer.
"We first heard they were being developed in an Unscom report about a year ago," he said.
"We then knew they were being developed, but not manufactured. It sounds like they've moved on a stage now."
But he said even the unpiloted MiG bomber was relatively unsophisticated, as it still requires a pilot in another aircraft nearby, and has a limited range.
"It really shows how far sanctions are forcing Saddam Hussein to live off his wits and come up with such weapons," he said.
Scientists in other countries, including the UK, USA and Israel are all working on developing pilotless reconnaissance aircraft.
| George Robertson: "It must be absolutely right to destroy these terrible weapons". |
He said the Iraqi leader had ordered work to begin in 1995 on the unmanned planes, codenamed L29s.
Mr Robertson said: "They have two under-wing weapon stores containing 300 litres of anthrax.
![[ image: ]](http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/235000/images/_238483_robertson_quote_150.gif) |
He said: "We suspect he wanted to deploy these drones of death to southern Iraq, where they would have been a threat to his neighbours, and we hit these on Thursday night."
'Terrible weapons'
Addressing those who had questioned the air strikes policy, Mr Robertson said: "It must be absolutely right to destroy these terrible weapons."
The chief of the defence staff, General Sir Charles Guthrie, said the L29 project used specially adapted Czech-made trainer planes, similar to the British Hawk aircraft.
They are fitted with special aerosols under the wings which are capable of spraying anthrax which could travel up to five miles downwind of the aircraft.
 |  |
| General Sir Charles Guthrie explains the significance of the attacks on the L29 project |
Nick Cook, an expert on unmanned aircraft who works for the magazine Jane's Defence Weekly, described the L29 programme as a "desperate measure".
He said: "Crop-sprayers are necessarily low-flying planes, which could easily be shot out of the sky".
Robot jets of the future
More alarming, he said, could be the development of a second type of unmanned plane which uses a MiG 21 fighter jet.
 |
| Robertson coined term "drones of death" |
"We first heard they were being developed in an Unscom report about a year ago," he said.
"We then knew they were being developed, but not manufactured. It sounds like they've moved on a stage now."
But he said even the unpiloted MiG bomber was relatively unsophisticated, as it still requires a pilot in another aircraft nearby, and has a limited range.
"It really shows how far sanctions are forcing Saddam Hussein to live off his wits and come up with such weapons," he said.
Scientists in other countries, including the UK, USA and Israel are all working on developing pilotless reconnaissance aircraft.
It has been predicted that robot superjets, capable of far greater speeds and tighter manoeuvres than pilots can withstand, could eventually replace manned jets in the next century.
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