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Iraqis capture Phoenix drone
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| 26 March 2003 |
Craig Hoyle JDW Aviation Editor
Iraqi ground forces claim to have shot down a British Army Phoenix battlefield surveillance and target acquisition drone, which was captured during clashes near the city of Basra.
Representing the first loss of a UK unmanned air vehicle (UAV) during the current campaign, the incident came as British and Iraqi forces clashed on the outskirts of the southern Iraqi city on 25 March. A number of Iraqi armoured vehicles were destroyed during the skirmishes.
In front-line service with the Royal Artillery for almost five years, the Phoenix system is believed to be making its debut as an artillery targeting platform during the US-led Operation 'Iraqi Freedom', according to Jane's Defence Weekly sources. This sees the unmanned aircraft provide location and identification services to the British Army's AS90 155mm self-propelled howitzer and Multiple Launch Rocket System, using its pod-housed infrared sensor payload.
Previous operational deployments of the aircraft - such as its use over Kosovo between 1999 and 2001 - have seen the type used purely for reconnaissance activities. Other capabilities of the current system include its provision of situational awareness information and battle damage assessment, according to army officials. The system had logged around 700 flights by July 2002, including 486 during operations totalling some 2,000 hours over Kosovo.
With a wing span of 5.5m, the truck-launched Phoenix air vehicle flies at altitudes up to 8,000ft at a cruising speed of around 70kt. The platform has an endurance of more than four hours with an operational radius of 38 n miles from its ground control and data exploitation station.
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