Hunter-Killer robot planes launched in Afghanistan

The state-of-the-art unmanned drone, named the Reaper because of its deadly attack capability, is bigger and flies higher, longer and faster than the Predator surveillance aircraft currently on patrol in the fight against the Taliban and in Iraq.

Scroll down for more...

The Reapers, priced at £8 million each, plus service costs, will be flown by remote control by RAF "pilots" operating them via satellite link from 7,000 miles away at the US Air Force's Nellis base in Nevada.

There are 44 RAF crew already flying Predators from Nellis and it is easy for them to upgrade to Reapers.

At first the RAF Reaper planes will be unarmed and used only for reconnaissance.

But defence experts last night predicted that it will not be long before they are used in full attack mode. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "The aircraft we have ordered are capable of using the weapons – you just need to clip them on and install an extra bit of kit inside to fire them." A military expert said: "These aircraft have awesome firepower and the great thing is there is never any danger to their crew because they are safely tucked away on the ground thousands of miles from the battlefield." The news of the RAF order came as it was revealed that the US Air Force is planning to send the world's first robot attack squadrons – each with 16 similar planes whose full name is the MQ-9 Reaper – into battle in Afghanistan and Iraq later this year.

The Reaper is 36ft long, has a 66ft wingspan and at five tons it is four times heavier than the Predator.

Predators were originally designed as pure reconnaissance planes, but were later adapted to carry two Hellfire air-to-ground missiles.

They have been used to deadly effect by the USAF and the CIA.

Scroll down for more...

In November, 2002, a CIA Predator fired a missile that killed Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant in Yemen, Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, and five other al-Qaeda suspects.

But military chiefs demanded more speed and firepower than the Predator could supply – and the Reaper was born. One Reaper can carry 14 Hellfires, or four Hellfires and two 500lb Paveway II laser-guided bombs.

It is also being tested with Stinger air-to-air missiles and other smart bombs. Its 950 horsepower turboprop "pusher" engine at the rear gives it a top speed of about 300mph and a maximum ceiling of 50,000ft.

In the RAF's reconnaissance configuration with long-range fuel tanks in place of missiles under the wings, it can stay aloft for up to 44 hours with the crew on the ground flying it in shifts.

Fully armed with missiles instead of long-range tanks, it can still patrol non-stop for 14 hours.

Each plane has a two-man "crew" – the pilot and an "observer" who operates the plane's sophisticated sensor equipment and weapons.

They sit at computer screens seeing what the plane sees through a multitude of sophisticated cameras and sensors. Soldiers in the field equipped with laptops are also able to download real-time video of what the planes above can see, giving them a bird's eye view of what the enemy is doing.

But USAF Col Joe Guasella, Central Command operations chief, said: "Although the Reaper performs this job better than the Predator, it's not a recon aircraft. It's an attack plane with a lot of firepower."