Today comes the news from Afghanistan on 25 September, a drone , an unmanned aircraft that would have identified the hideout of the leader of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Egyptian Sheikh Fateh al-Misri, who later was killed by a missile launched from the same drone .
Sheikh Fateh al-Misri was considered the successor of Mustafa Abu al-Yazir in turn killed by a missile launched from a Predator last May.
The Predator is an unmanned aircraft (or UAV - unmanned aerial vehicle) produced by General Atomics , an American company that has seen its skyrocketing stock prices thanks to this particular aircraft.
With a piston engine of just over 100 HP and its lines despite reading the Predator is an aircraft in terms of sophisticated and highly sophisticated aircraft avionics and instruments for reconnaissance.
In fact it is a reconnaissance drone that, thanks to a satellite data link , is able to perform long-range reconnaissance without endangering the life of a crew, flying at an altitude of 7000 meters in 200 kmh for a very long time that can come even at 18 hours.
The feature of the Predator, despite its apparent fragility, which can be armed with air-to-ground Hellfire missiles capable of hitting targets with precision, however small.
HELLFIRE literally hellfire , is the acronym of HEL icopter L aunced FI king and fo R g E t missile (fire and forget missile elilanciato) where fire and forget means that once inserted via databus parameters pointing the missile reaches its target thanks to a navigation system and self-pointing.
The air-ground Hellfire missile, weighing 50 kilos do, has a relatively low cost of production and is used by a dozen armed forces, including Italy, born as a weapon against tank is being built in numerous versions and variants .
In Afghanistan, Hellfire missiles are mounted on Predator CIA until last year had given to Blackwater (Xe hours) - the largest company contractors in the world, an army private practice - the task of managing and arm the drone dedicated to finding and destroying hideouts of Taliban leaders and their physical elimination.
The use of Predator, with other military assets both ground and air, has allowed the destruction of well-camouflaged hiding places among the mountains unattainable, even in Pakistan, and the consequent elimination of numerous insurgents without putting troops at special large risks otherwise inevitable.
Like for example today, 28 September, in South Waziristan, in Pakistan, a Predator missile have eliminated four insurgents provoking the ire of the Pakistani government that rite , often called, has never taken military action to remove the concrete bases of the insurgents within its territories.
Unfortunately it happens that during these actions targeted also remain involved civilian casualties partly because the Taliban used to use as shelter homes whose residents, like it or not, are turned into human shields and for other random unpredictable.
addition to the U.S. and Britain also our Air Force uses for many years the Predator and our contingent in Afghanistan within the ISAF coalition base in Herat, makes extensive use of this airplane only performs reconnaissance missions, because the policy prescriptions imposed on our military does not provide for its use with weapons on board.
This is because in Afghanistan (and elsewhere) our troops acting always according to devices based on the utmost caution, to avoid collateral damage to civilians, damage that could have broken the complex task of co-operation with local civil institutions and to aid the newly formed Afghan armed forces, then these activities are the real purpose of the ISAF mission.
The result of this conservative choice is that no clear victims of civilians by our military actions and the fact that our troops have had very few losses in proportion to the number of military present in the theater - in third place after American and British - despite the continued commitment and hard they are subject.
Therefore q hen dawn on September 17 an Italian Predator has framed the action of four insurgents who places an IED has done all he could do: send pictures Herat has alerted a group of tactical T ask Force 45 * aboard a CH47 transport helicopter escorted by two Mangusta attack helicopters.
During this operation - as is now well known - is killed the captain of the Col Moschin Alexander and the Romans Corporal Elio Rapisarda, the same department, was injured.
Rumor only then would the two Mangusta neutralized the core of Taliban fire, which was perched in a small building, using the on-board weapons (rockets, missiles and a gun barrel by rotating 20 mm). According to the same sources, the building would be destroyed and killed the insurgents, did not appear there were civilian casualties, but at that moment who was able to determine the presence of civilians in that building?
It 'very possible that the Predator has filmed the whole action, but the picture, if any, will surely be classified by ministerial directives.
As would have happened if the Predator of our Air Force had been armed?
You can not make history with but surely if you can simulate a different scenario.
The moment that framed the action of the Taliban with his camera and its sensors could neutralize the armed Predator instantly obtaining the same result that was sent to the operational core of Task Force 45, but without running any risk to our miliatri.
The Predator armed with Hellfire would prevent the activation a complex and expensive device consists of a CH47 transport helicopter with at least five crew members on board with an unknown number of raiders and two Mangusta with four men, but especially the action would get the same result without exposing our rangers and crews of the helicopters risks related to an intervention so dangerous .
addition, the Taliban would have been eliminated in an open space at the same time acting , giving them no time to hide building and organizing, in the time between recognition and entry into operation of the device, what in effect seems to have been an ambush, using also the possible presence of civilians as a defensive shield.
But our armed Predator is not because the Italian government fears the negative fallout from a political and media for any civilian casualties. For the same reason our aircraft AMX only make out reconnaissance and are only armed with 20 mm cannon.
So if one of our patrols on the ground would need air support to get out of some bad situation that could give support, as indeed seems to have already occurred and if available, of other air forces of the ISAF coalition.
In short, our contingent in Afghanistan despite having adequate means for the field of military operations in low-risk and high efficiency can not use them for caveat government, although the mission of ISAF is very different from that of Enduring Freedom and repeat, systematically organized to mandate actions to eliminate the greatest number of Taliban leaders.
ISAF along with the Afghan armed forces aims instead to secure the territory as far as possible to avoid the fighting, when there were, however have seen our soldiers do their job with great ability, for Therefore, during the Typical missions of ISAF contingent for involving civilians are much smaller than the missions of Operation Enduring Freedom.
We believe that the main task of our government should be to expose to unnecessary risks our soldiers by giving them the opportunity to make best use of the means provided to comply with the international mandate was ratified by our Parliament, and for the objectives of this mandate and to arm our Predator AMX does not automatically mean expose Afghan civilians to new risks.
And this without fear because our military has always shown great balance in fulfilling their duty and responsibility.
(*) Task Force 45 is the generic name of the Italian special forces who
work in Afghanistan, the nucleus often ISAF said in the press for his ability and his success "secret."
mission in which Task Force 45 is called "Sarissa" as the Macedonian long spear. The department is made up of men from the 9th Regiment Col Moschin, the Comsubinwho of MM, by the Air Commandos and GIS Carabinieri working together with the ranger Parachute Regiment of Alpine. Montecervino.
For obvious reasons, the information on the consistency of Task Force 45 and their activities are classified.
