Next Gen News

It was in one of these buildings on 25 March that pilots flying a Reaper drone locked on to and fired missiles at two vehicles that were understood to be carrying a Taliban commander.

"\ When they go into the booth, is their way of thinking. Do everything they once they have closed the door behind them in Afghanistan," we are now are \ in Afghanistan. "

"They fly under the same rules for the application like any other pilot. You are not allowed, anything that can do no other combat aircraft. One of the toughest jobs is not too emotionally involved in the fight. You need to stay within the rules ... no matter how they understand what is happening on the ground are. "

The 110 members of 39 Squadron suffered no six-or nine-month tours that are standard in the armed forces. They remain in America for three years at a time, so they argued Thirtle, "our most experienced people in Afghanistan,". Except they are not in Afghanistan.

After she trained on a mission, the pilots rely on a number of systems to run the aircraft, the decisions they travel through fiber optic cable in Nevada in Europe, where they are emitted to a satellite and then back to Afghanistan. There are 2 second delay.

The view from the cameras can be 'live' accessed from just about everyone in the world with the right security clearance. The details of each mission will be taken on huge servers in the U.S..

Thirtle cannot see fully automated aircraft being used by the RAF anytime soon: "The bottom line is, the MoD believes there will be an enduring need for a human to fly these aircraft."

Critics of drones are not reassured. Most of their concern has been directed at the US, which has taken the lead in the technology and which is why the British squadron is based in America.