Updated on
Summary
The Pentagon would deliver around a dozen Shadow drone aircraft to Pakistan within a year to aid its fight against Islamic extremism.Pakistan previously has also urged Washington to outfit its military with armed aerial vehicles like the Predator and Reaper. US drone missile strikes against Al-Qaeda and Taliban figures in Pakistan have fueled anti-American sentiment because of civilian casualties, and drawn public condemnation from the government in Islamabad. The unnamed official said Washington could supply around a dozen smaller, unarmed Shadow drones to Islamabad, to help with their surveillance and reconnaissance activities. We looked at Shadows, we looked at ScanEagles, among other drones, the official said. Shadow drones smaller than the armed Predator and Reaper aircraft are about 11 feet (three meters) long and have a wing-span of 14-feet (4.3 meters) with sensors and cameras feeding video images back to operators on the ground. Pakistans military already has some drones of its own production which it uses for surveillance, but which are less sophisticated than those manufactured by the United States.
