NATO drone crashes in northern Afghanistan
July 28th, 2010 - 8:49 pm ICT by BNO NewsKABUL (BNO NEWS) — A unmanned aerial vehicle crashed in northern Afghanistan on Wednesday, NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said.
ISAF said the vehicle, a Luna UAV, contains no weapons or intelligence that could be exploited by enemy forces. The drone was remotely piloted from a ground station and crashed in Kunduz province.
“The Luna is slightly larger than an average toy remote-controlled airplane purchased from a hobby shop,” said Col. Hans Bush, ISAF Joint Command spokesperson. “Reports of the Taliban ‘capturing a reconnaissance plane’ after it made a emergency landing are misleading. Even if the vehicle was intact after it went down, it has absolutely no value to enemy forces.”
The unmanned system suffered from mechanical problems and went down in the Taliban stronghold area of Qal’ah-ye Zal district.
“Because the aircraft went down in an area known to be littered with IEDS and has absolutely no benefit to the enemy, we decided not to recover it,” Bush added.
The Luna is 2.28 meters (approximately 7 feet) long has a take-off weight of 37 kilograms, or about 80 pounds. It is powered by a two-cylinder, two-stroke engine similar to a lawnmower motor.
- Iran to unveil new home-made UAV - Jan 30, 2012
- Local Taliban leader among insurgents killed in Afghanistan - Oct 25, 2010
- Unmanned aerial vehicle crashes in northern Afghanistan - Aug 09, 2010
- Poison drones new Olympic threat - May 06, 2012
- NATO helicopter crashes in Afghanistan - Aug 06, 2011
- Three injured in Afghan blast - Apr 22, 2012
- Indian Navy's UAV crashes (Lead) - Feb 16, 2012
- Iran to use UAVs to guard its borders - Oct 03, 2011
- Pakistan Navy's UAV crashes near oil refinery - Jul 19, 2011
- Indian Navy's UAV crashes - Feb 16, 2012
- India to develop unmanned combat aerial vehicle - Nov 25, 2009
- NATO helicopter crashes in southern Afghanistan, killing 11 - Aug 17, 2012
- Four Taliban killed in Afghanistan - Oct 08, 2011
- No airspace violation in eastern India: IAF - Jul 27, 2011
- Turkish military helicopter crashes in Kabul, killing 16 - Mar 18, 2012
Tags: afghanistan kabul, bno, crashes, drone, emergency landing, enemy forces, hobby shop, international security assistance, kilograms, lawnmower, mechanical problems, northern afghanistan, qal, reconnaissance plane, remote controlled airplane, spokesperson, stroke engine, taliban, uav, unmanned aerial vehicle