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One month ago, UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) could replace British troops in a future war, arguing that the country’s enemies had already adapted to modern challenges.
According to the British Department of Defense flight logs released on Saturday, an estimated 1,409 Islamic State fighters have been killed or injured by United Kingdom Royal Air Force (RAF) airstrikes in Syria and Iraq over the past six years. The measurements are based on photographic data and the debris created.
The airstrikes were carried out by RAF MQ-9 Reaper (UAV) unmanned aerial vehicles, which were controlled by crews in bunkers based in the United Kingdom.
The ministry’s flight logs highlighted at least 4,107 raids conducted by the MQ-9 since 2014.
The Sun quoted a Pentagon spokesman as saying that the British military was always seeking to “minimize the risk of civilian casualties through our strict targets”.
Drones could replace UK troops, the defense minister said.
“Instead of mass and mobilization, this future force will be about speed, readiness, and resilience, operating much more in the newest domains, in space, cyber and sub-sea, and working to prevent conflict as well as winning it”, Wallace said during a tour of Britain’s newest naval ship, the HMS Tamar, in London.
