Executive

…50

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, I am Stephanie Wainwright, live from the News of the Hour studios, here in New York. Our guest for this evening is Major Darrell Montgomery, spokesperson for the United States Air Force. Welcome, major; thank you for joining us tonight."

"Thank you for having me," Montgomery answered.

"I am hoping you can help us shed some light into last week's tragedy in Florida. What a disaster!"

"Indeed. We are deeply saddened by this unfortunate incident. The United States Air Force is taking this matter seriously. We have launched an in-depth investigation into the incident, looking at all possible angles—"

"Tell me about these drones," Stephanie interrupted. "How safe are they? Why are we using them?"

"The Air Force has deployed drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, for the purpose of increasing the safety of the military personnel, pilots, other crew, and also for the increased safety of ground operations. Even if a UAV should crash, having a smaller mass, there is less damage generated on the ground by the crash. Our pilots are safe, operating the UAVs from safe locations, such as airbases on US land or from our allies' territories. There is significantly less risk to their lives."

"How many drones have crashed since you began their deployments? And when was that? When did the first drone fly?"

"The first drone was primitive and was developed by the British in the 1930s. It was radio controlled."

"Really? I had no idea this concept was so old."

"Yes, that's right. The concept has been around for a while. During World War II, more experimental drones were flown, but, unfortunately, not by us or by our allies. Some specialists think that the Nazis were ahead of us in this technology back then, flying what is commonly known as the V-1, long-range missile, which was a drone carrying a bomb."

"Interesting," Stephanie commented.

"Then, in the 1960s, we started more intensive research here, in the United States, flying thousands of drone flights — mostly target and surveillance. But the drones didn't become what they are today until the mid-1990s."

"So, a long history, I see. How about their safety record? Any notable incidents in the past?"

"None worth mentioning, no. The key point in the favor of utilizing drones is their safety."

"And their low cost, let's not forget," Stephanie added, sarcastically.

"And their cost, definitely. But this low cost is driven by the safety of their operations. No deaths. No pilots captured by the enemy. No wounded."

"So, in the entire history of their operation, has a drone ever been responsible before for loss of human life here, at home?"

"None whatsoever."

"How about abroad? Have drones been responsible for civilian deaths abroad?"

"In recent years, a couple of incidents abroad have claimed drone involvement, with minimal conformation."

"But, just this April, in Kandahar, a Canadian patrol was attacked by a United States UAV, in what was then reported as a friendly fire incident, isn't that right?"

"Yes, that was what was reported. However, the investigation in this case is still underway."

"So, you're saying it wasn't our drone that killed those Canadians?"

"Quite the opposite, unfortunately. We were able to confirm that it was ours, but these are preliminary results, so I wouldn't call this a confirmed incident, because we are still investigating."

"Well, were all drones in the area accounted for? How about all ordnance? Any Hellfire missiles missing from your inventory?" Stephanie's voice was filling with sarcasm, as she kept asking the logical questions.

"It's not as simple as that," Major Montgomery tried to explain; "it's not an issue of counting the Hellfires."

"Well, seems to me it should be, if someone really wants to get to the bottom of this."

"The investigation into what happened with the Canadian patrol in Kandahar in April is still underway. We're exploring different angles. We are looking at all our drones deployed in the area — their operators, their flight plans — to get a better understanding of what happened. We're examining all circumstances of the incident.

"Two things we know, as of right now, regarding Kandahar. One is that we were able to confirm it was our drone that opened fire on the Canadians. We have their reports indicating that the drone was wearing U.S. markings. We have precisely identified which air base the drone originated from and who was flying it. We have analyzed the site of the attack, and the explosive trace analysis indicates our Hellfire missiles were launched there. However, we have no record of any operations underway in that area.

"The second thing we know about the Kandahar incident is that the investigation is not over. We will not close this investigation until we have all the answers to the questions about this unfortunate incident. We are committed to bring closure to the families of all the Canadians killed or wounded in that incident and to make sure those responsible for the incident will be held accountable. We are also committed to get to the bottom of the Kandahar incident, to ensure that we will take all steps needed to ensure that such incidents will not happen in the future."

"Here's another possibility for you," Stephanie offered. "Could the drone have been hacked?"

"Hacked? What do you mean by that?"

"If I understand this correctly, these drones are operated remotely. Could someone else have taken control of the drone and guided it to attack the Canadian patrol?"

"I don't think that could even be possible. The drone's connection to the remote guiding station is highly encrypted, designed to securely maintain and handover the drone control between ground stations and the UAV's controls. The uplink to the drone is highly secure."

"But wherever there's an encryption, there's also the possibility for that encryption to be, well, decrypted by unauthorized personnel," Stephanie insisted, the sarcasm in her voice picking up.

"We're examining all angles, but this, again, doesn't have an even remotely considerable likelihood of being at the root cause of the incident."

"How about Florida? What's the Air Force planning to do to find out what happened?"

"Regarding Florida, we have a little bit more information. We have determined that the UAV was inbound to Mackenzie Air Field. We have determined it was returning from a routine surveillance mission that was part of a joint operation with the United States Coast Guard, patrolling the territorial waters of the Gulf of Mexico coast. We have determined it was carrying surveillance equipment, not Hellfire missiles, or laser-guided bombs, or any other type of ordnance."

"When will we know what happened?"

"We are hoping that, within a few months, we will have all the answers to the questions regarding last week's tragedy in Florida."

"Thank you for your time and answers, even if they are so disappointingly limited at this time, major. We are hoping to see you back in our studios soon, bringing all the answers we are looking for."

"Thank you, Stephanie, looking forward to it."