Officials: Drone crashes in Kunduz
A unmanned aerial vehicle went down in northern Afghanistan on Wednesday, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said.
ISAF spokesman Col. Hans Bush said the Luna UAV had mechanical problems and went down in a Taliban stronghold area in Kunduz province.
He said there had been reports of the Taliban seizing a "reconnaissance plane" after an emergency landing, but those accounts are "misleading."
There are no plans to retrieve the UAV, the ISAF spokesman said.
"Because the aircraft went down in an area known to be littered with IEDS and has absolutely no benefit to the enemy, we decided not to recover it," Bush explained, referring to the bombs called improvised explosive devices.
The small craft is only a bit larger than the "average toy remote-controlled airplane purchased from a hobby shop," Bush said. It's 2.28 meters (or about 7 feet) long, has a take-off weight of 37 kilograms (about 80 pounds) and is powered by an engine similar to a lawnmower motor, he said.
U.S. military incident reports recently published by the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks.org say scavengers many times get their hands on downed unmanned aircraft, also known as drones.
On several occasions, military units sent to recover the aircraft have arrived to find them already stripped of valuable parts.
I only wish that all you right-wing nutjobs would just shut the hell up.And to think that we went to war with Germany in order to stop the ones over there.What ironie!!!
Get off of it,AllAmerican.This right-wing bla-bla-bla does get awfully old!
Unfortunately the enemy in Iraq aren't concerned with honor, patriotism, or unity. All they care about is their right to kill and pillage the "western crusaders." They have a mentality in this war that I think relates to the NVA back in Vietnam. This is why US soldiers keep dying and why the public (myself included) is opposed to this war. As for the UAV's yes I think they are necessary because they save countless lives and keep the enemy at bay, think of it as the equilibrium device to the IED's the Taliban have used against us.
Like George Patton already said,you right-wing nutjobs are really a disgrace to this country!
They are being taken down by unmanned IUDs.
A Question: If NATO can not dare to retrive the plane in the area due to presence of "enemy" and explosives, how can they "stop Afghanistan from becoming a sanctuary for blah, blah, blah?"
Now that's a very good question.
Because risking soldiers lives for a few thousand dollars of *junked* toy airplane would be stupid?
Whitman just told you, it's a German bird (UAV) they are to scared to go get it.
nato is filled wid poossies
Remote control war: Is it a good idea? Hell no! If it was being used against the good ol' US of A there'd be hell to pay. But those Taliban, I guess, just don't fight fair. Of course, there is one difference – they live in Afghanistan, that remote control joystick jockey in Nevada only sees the people he kills on video.
Those filthy creeps who operate those cursed drones make me feel ashamed to be an American.I just wish that they would arrest them and take them to a war crimes tribunal where they 'd be dealt with appropriately!
You just nailed it,George!!!
Thank you,George.You just took the words right out of my mouth.Something really should be done about these low-lifes.
Hahaha at least we dont strap bombs to our children and semd them after our target. We dont hide behind our people and strike and run like cowards. Maybe we wouldnt have to use drones if they'd step up and fight the war they want so bad.
If anyone would like to know. Sorry about my bad grammer.
Arn't drones also supposed to crash to kill terrorist?
pretty soon drones will b for sale in blackmarket
The unfortunate part of the Iraq and Afghanistan war is that they have shown terrorist around the world of the potential for IEDs, I think U.S millitary grasped the magnitude and implication of this simple device a bit too late, and unwittingly contributed to its growing popularity among terrorist groups.
Obviously it has a long history, but its use was popularized in Iraq thanks to the careless strategy of U.S politicians at the time, they should have left some decisions to the generals; for example firing thousands of educated and trained Iraqi millitary personel, no doubt some had knowledge in electronics or had better potential to learn than uneducated Iraqi, this human resources were given to the insurgency and some likely joined terrorist groups.
NATO forces were hoping that use of this weapon doesn't spread to Afghanistan, not only did it spread but it now litters the country. This simple device has become a game changer; American millitary knows that if they lose in Afghanistan it will be because of IEDs, and that is one message they just can't afford to send to all other terrorist groups around the world.
IEDs have restricted movement of NATO forces, and the Taliban in return have to watch out for drones/planes (symmetry), there are obvious advantages and disadvantages in both, but one thing is clear, IEDs have given insurgents a bigger breathing room than when Russia was there. So this has really become a "..battle of wills" as US General David Petraeus put it.
It is just madness to expect Talibans to surrender, this war can go on for another 1000 years and it will not have any more progress than it already had, if a U.S politician disagrees with this assessment, check to see if he/she has some connections with an industry tied to defence spending.
Solution is simple: Put your pride aside and do the unthinkable; sit down with the Taliban, give them governance on the condition that they don't allow Al-Qaida to operate from their borders. Give them the governance, let them build their country and economy then they will have at least something to lose other than a collapsed cave.
Give them the governance,... What are you thinking? So they can continue to supply their cash crop of opium to the world. No, I say the Taliban need to realize that their repressive society won't survive much longer. Russia failed to win against the Taliban because of US assistance–yes we supported the Taliban against the Soviets. IEDs are not new either. Read about the booby traps set by the Viet Cong in Southeast Asia–nothing more than improved explosive devices set to harass and kill and restrict troop movement. IEDs are just being used more now because that is all they have to work with. It is a war of attrition at this point and when it crumbles and the US leaves, the US will be there to help erect a decent and just government.
Come on,Grotar.The Russians tried it and failed much to my chagrin.The main difference between NATO and the Russians is their motivation.The Russians by their ideology and NATO by it's own greed.Wise up!!!
Do some reading and fact checking on the Taliban and Opium first before you open you mouth, people like you is why the world is so messed up.
well put. "Adan"...we need our politicians to read this post.
Feel free to forward it to them.
these guys already knew that IED's could cause huge damage....that's what they did against the russians! just not on the same scale because at the same time we were giving them rpg's and stingers, but they would also use IED's to trap convoys in the mountain areas and then unload on them when the troops got out to clear the wreckage....though with technology they have been able to be more efficient with their usage of ied's thanks to remote detonation devices....such as cell phones which are now very very widely available compared to the 1980's when cell phones were still a thing of the future
My wife is cooking pork chops for dinner. I am sick of pork chops. Any one want to come to my house and eat pork chops?
Where is Bin Laden?
You mean,where are his remains,joe.Osama bin Laden is in all probibility,already dead.
some UAV's are disposable- let the Afghans use it for Scrap metal. Nothing Classified there
Wait, let me get this straight! UAV crews scanning for IED's,suicide bombers, and murders are godless? While terrorists represent everything holy? Get a grip people...
well, the terrorists pray to god....UAV's can't do that....so they don't have god....therefore, they are godless
however god does not seem to side with terrorists very often either....they are "mostly godless" 🙂
Ok...let's make a choice here. Unmanned aircraft cost far less than manned aircraft. They can be sent into areas that would be unsafe for bigger, manned aircraft. Unmanned aircraft use weapons chosen for their accuracy. Which would YOU prefer: a single Predator-type aircraft sending a single missile into THAT window on THAT house, or a flight of B-52 bombers, wingtip-to-wingtip, carpet bombing the entire village? Godless? Ungodly? Please...
A good carpet bombing is one good way to clear out the IEDs.
You right-wing nutjobs make me sick with your stupid "shoot'em up" mentality.Maybe if the Russians succeeded here this stupid war wouldn't be happening now .How sorry I am that they didn't!!!
You got that right,George!
It's kind of strange that these ungodly drones always crash due to "mechanical" problems.
How right you are,Daniel!!!The people operating these godless aircraft really need to be brought to justice and dealt with appropriately!
the uav used didnt use missles, it was german and germans are too scared too go recover their birds and yesss uavs do go down to mechanical problems ive experienced it, its not like operators decide to make the bird do a 2000 ft plunge
Drone operators need to spend more time practicing on a Wii.