Dutch, Canadians Purchase Mini-UAVs for Use in Afghanistan

Skylark UAV launch(click to view full) Welcome to the commando Olympics, to use a term from StrategyPage that we quoted in our November 2005 coverage of Afghanistan’s mini-UAVs like the American RQ-11A Raven and British MiTex Buster. Likewise, we have also covered field reports from the 101st Airborne in Iraq re: their Raven mini-UAVs. As sizeable contingents from Canada and the Netherlands settle in to southern Afghanistan as part of a beefed-up ISAF force under British command, portable mini-UAVs are the subject of emergency orders from both countries. At the same time, Canada is also holding a full-fledged mini-UAV procurement competition. Aladin UAV full kit(click to view full) Loyal Benelux reader David Vandenberghe informs us that the Dutch have bought 10 Aladin UAVs and 5 ground stations for their Uruzgan mission in Afghanistan; Dutch troops will receive a crash course from the German army, who have used it in North Afghanistan. See MINDEF release, in Dutch. The Canadian purchase is part of the $200 million set of emergency purchases for Operation Archer that DID covered in December 2005. At the time, we included a picture of Elbit’s small and ultra-quiet Skylark UAV, which had just been selected by Australia for […]