Cameron’s drones

The British government is undertaking a massive defence review at the moment with every new defence project in the spotlight from the next generation of nuclear submarines to tanks for the army. It will be completed by the end of the year. But like everything else involving government departments there are more leaks than anything else. Prime Minister David Cameron announced ahead of the Conservative Party conference that the Royal Air Force would soon be receiving twenty state-of-the-art drone aircraft and that extra kit would be purchased for special forces. Britain at the moment has ten Reaper drones which are being used in the fight against Islamic State and were used successfully in Afghanistan. The British armed forces will now receive 20 of the more advanced drone aircraft which are designed and built in the US. Obviously, drone aircraft are a cheap and effective form of attack aircraft. A Royal Air Force Reaper fired the missile which killed a known British terrorist leading fighting for Islamic State. In fact the Reapers have been more successful in the war on terror than their armed aircraft counterparts. While it is good news that the Royal Air Force is getting new equipment, it might have been a good idea if the prime minister had kept the drone plans a secret until the defence review was completed, It is like reading a book but starting from the back. Some aspects of defence should be kept secret.