A Reaper drone, which comes equipped with Hellfire missiles and precision-guided bombs, takes off from Kandahar air base in southern Afghanistan. Such unmanned aircraft are to be used to hunt specific insurgent targets. Staff Sgt. James Lee Harper Jr. / U.S. Air ForceFrom The L.A. Times:
In Afghanistan, the military is moving away from targeting Al Qaeda in favor of stabilizing the country.
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan -- U.S. military leaders have concluded that their war effort in Afghanistan has been too focused on hunting Al Qaeda, and have begun to shift Predator drone aircraft to the fight against the Taliban and other militants in order to prevent the country from slipping deeper into anarchy.
The move, described by government and Defense Department officials, represents a major change in the military's use of one of its most precious intelligence assets. It also illustrates the hard choices that must be made because the drones are in short supply.
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My Comment: The drones will be used for a lot of missions .... but (I am sure) they are primarily going to be used at night to target those who plant IEDs.