The UK’s £4billion fleet of 657 unmanned aircraft is one of the largest in the world.
A Freedom of Information request found the biggest number of British UAS are the 324 Black Hornet Nano micro-helicopters, only four inches long and an inch wide (100x25mm).
The fleet also includes 10 Reaper MQ-9s, which are armed with Hellfire missiles plus laser-guided 500lb bombs and can hover 20,000ft above targets for more than 20 hours.
Then there are 222 Desert Hawks, plastic UAS with a 4ft 3in wingspan (1.3m). David Cameron held one on a visit to Afghanistan last June.
For tougher operations, 54 Watchkeepers can stay aloft for 17 hours. Nine more are due in service soon to replace ageing Hermes 450s. By contrast 30 Tarantula Hawks weigh just 20lbs apiece and are used as recce aides by bomb-disposal teams in Afghanistan.
Lastly there are eight ScanEagles, a specialist UAS being used in the campaign against Somali pirates.
UAS are likely to make up a third of all RAF working aircraft by 2030 but human rights groups fear they could be used to spy on the innocent public. The MoD declined to comment.
Source: Mirror