America's drone fleet

1:11 PM EST, February 4, 2013

British troops use mini-drones to find targets on the battlefield

British soldiers on the front lines in Afghanistan have been armed with pocket-sized spy drones that can give operators bird’s-eye views of the battlefield below.

5:00 AM EST, February 7, 2013

U.S. drone use could set dangerous example for rogue powers

Imagine if North Korea or Iran or Venezuela deployed thousands of unmanned surveillance aircraft in search of earthbound enemies, a swarm of robotic hunters armed with lethal weaponry and their governments’ go-ahead to exterminate targets.

10:00 AM EST, February 6, 2013

City in Virginia passes anti-drone resolution

Charlottesville, Va., has taken action against the use of police spy drones, ordering a two-year moratorium on the citywide use of unmanned aircraft.

9:37 PM EST, January 23, 2013

Drone strikes in Yemen escalating, officials report

A U.S. drone strike targeting militants on motorbikes killed five in central Yemen on Wednesday, a senior Yemeni official said. It was the fourth strike in five days, marking what the official called a significant escalation in the U.S.-Yemeni campaign against that country’s Al Qaeda affiliate.

4:16 PM EST, January 24, 2013

U.N. expert launches investigation of drones, targeted killings

A United Nations expert has launched an investigation of drone attacks and targeted killings, scrutinizing a deeply controversial tool in the United States’ battle against Al Qaeda.

4:12 AM EST, January 3, 2013

U.S. drone strike in northwest Pakistan kills top Taliban commander

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A U.S. drone strike in northwest Pakistan killed a top Taliban commander responsible for engineering attacks on U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Pakistani military and intelligence sources said Thursday.

9:00 AM EST, December 11, 2012

Air Force set to blast off another secretive space drone

An experimental robotic space plane developed for the Air Force is slated to launch Tuesday from Cape Canaveral, fueling an ongoing mystery about its hush-hush payload and overall mission.

1:40 PM EST, December 6, 2012

Black Hawk helicopter flies itself over mountain range in test

In the blue skies above the Diablo Range, just east of San Jose, a Black Hawk helicopter flew a two-hour test mission controlled entirely by a computer -- without a pilot’s hand.

11:49 AM EST, December 9, 2012

U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan said to kill 2 top Al Qaeda leaders

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Recent U.S. drone missile strikes in northwest Pakistan have killed two Al Qaeda commanders, according to Pakistani intelligence sources, including a militant leader who had replaced Al Qaeda’s second-in-command, Abu Yahya al Libi, killed by a drone missile this summer.

June 25, 2012

Congress zooms in on drone killings

WASHINGTON -- Once a month, a group of staff members from the House and Senate intelligence committees drives across the Potomac River to CIA headquarters in Virginia, assembles in a secure room and begins the grim task of watching videos of the latest drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen.