Reaper Force - Inside Britain's Drone Wars. Peter Lee M.

so on. I’m not sure how I would feel about every lecture I deliver being dissected, line by line, by all of the other lecturers in my department but I am certain I wouldn’t like it.

      The screen goes blank and everyone makes a final move for the seats in the Briefing Room. A junior officer is on the receiving end of some banter about the length of his hair. He shrugs it off with threats of revenge and vague promises to get to a barber. I am struck by the banality of the exchange. The comments seem simultaneously appropriate, given that this is a military unit, and inappropriate – given the significance of an extra 5mm of hair in the context of what the squadron will do today.

      The room itself is nondescript and functional, maintaining the ‘every expense spared’ theme of the building. A few maps enliven the walls. The INT board with the latest intelligence updates reminds me of the local Items for Sale boards in many supermarkets. Useful for the right person at the right time with very specific needs, but otherwise generally disappointing.

      The focal point is the lectern where last-minute adjustments are being made. Beside it, the screen onto which the first PowerPoint slide of the pre-flight briefing reminds us where we are. The mission crews are going to spend the day, mentally at least, in another country and in a different time zone. The relief crews – who will step in to provide rest and lunch breaks for the mission crews – could be operating in two different places throughout the ten to twelve hours ahead, depending on what and where the missions are.

      When we start to take our seats the bonhomie subsides. Notebooks appear, quiet descends and attention turns to the screen. Everyone stands when the Commanding Officer enters. As he walks past he taps me on the shoulder and says quietly, ‘You’re flying with me today.’

      ‘Great,’ I whisper in knowing agreement. I don’t know exactly what he means but things are getting more interesting by the minute.

      ‘Good morning sirs, ma’ams, ladies and gentlemen.’ The Auth, who must have at least 500 hours’ experience on the Reaper to qualify for this particular duty, begins the briefing. It is one of several responsibilities he will hold for the duration of his duty period. The most important of these is being legally empowered by the Station Commander, via the Squadron Commander, to ensure that flying and legal standards are maintained throughout the day’s missions. He will sign the crews out, sign them back in, be available for advice and, in between, monitor what they are doing through the live video feeds from their respective aircraft. He has hotlines to the Command Headquarters, lawyers and anyone else he might need to speak to.

      The briefing replicates that found in every RAF squadron, for every type of aircraft, everywhere in the world. It begins with the MET (meteorology) briefing, which provides a detailed weather forecast for the transit route of the Reaper, from its launch site to the day’s area of operations over IS-held territory near Sharqat in Northern Iraq. The next image on the screen depicts what the wind, cloud and temperatures will be in the area for the next twenty-four hours and at different flight levels. The daytime reading can be summed up as ‘hot and sunny’ followed by ‘hotter and sunnier’, all interspersed with limited viz (visibility). A thirty-year-old memory resurfaces. I recall drawing a similar MET map on acetate as a university air squadron flight cadet at RAF Leuchars in Scotland and presenting it on an overhead projector. It probably said ‘cold and cloudy’ followed by ‘colder and cloudier,’ all with zero viz.

      Important information follows, signposted on the screen by ‘IMPORTANT INFORMATION’ for the inattentive. A general recap of the last few days of the campaign against IS follows, updating those who are returning to work after a couple of days off. Actually, instead of IS the Auth actually uses the term ‘Daesh’ – an Arabic term with vaguely insulting undertones – as mandated for all UK government departments. Recent activities by both 39 Squadron and XIII Squadron are summarised. Short videos are played of the destruction of both a pickup truck with a weapon on the back – mobile light artillery known as a ‘technical’ – and a bunker system. ‘Squirters’ appear from both strikes.

      Squirters are enemy fighters who somehow survive a missile or bomb strike and run off; depending on the RoE they may be re-attacked by the crew. It is a lucky squirter who lives to tell the tale. I try to imagine how disorienting it must be near the blast of a 100lb Hellfire missile when it impacts at many hundreds of miles per hour. I have a sneaking admiration for the survivors who have the presence of mind to run and hide.

      A quick summary of aircraft serviceability follows: no problems today. That will shortly turn out to be a bit optimistic.

      The dedicated crews for the two ‘lines’ are identified. A line is shorthand for everything involved in a single mission from take-off to landing. One line will be devoted to direct support for Iraqi forces fighting against IS. The other will support operations against IS in Northern Syria.

      Flex crews are also detailed. Their job is to relieve the duty crews for their breaks and meals by taking temporary charge of the Reaper in question. They dutifully write down the planned timings. The German strategist Helmuth von Moltke is attributed with the words, ‘no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy’. That extends to the Reaper crew meal plans.

      Finally, the specific briefing for today’s operation generates a noticeable increase in interest. The satellite image of the operating area is annotated with lines, arrows and various indicators of the enemy disposition, according to the most recent intelligence reports. I wonder why the Auth didn’t just use the regional map I looked at yesterday on the BBC website; it definitely seemed much clearer. An arrow at the top of the slide points upwards with MOSUL typed next to it, giving me some rough bearings. It would be many months until the battle for Mosul got under way. Different phases of the operation are detailed in relation to Iraqi Army progress, or planned progress, on the ground.

      All of this takes place at breakneck speed, much closer to that of a horse-racing commentator than to a bingo caller. A quick ‘Any questions?’ is followed by a few clarifications. Then, before I know it, the whole thing is over. My neighbour tells me that the briefing is kept shorter than that at XIII Squadron at RAF Waddington because 39 Squadron will be flying long transits to the operating area, and further information can be passed on to the crews then.

      Everyone rises for the departure of the Squadron Commander, i.e. the Boss. The crew I am to shadow will be walking to the GCS in fifteen minutes. On the way out the pilot tells me to get a drink and a toilet break: it will be nearly three hours before the next opportunity. I wrestle with dehydration as a preferred option if I am three hours from the next toilet break. I definitely don’t have the bladder to fly a Reaper.

      I leave the Briefing Room somewhat dazed by the speed and amount of information given. One thought dominates. In this mind-bending world of remotely piloted aircraft, the war against IS is roughly seventy-five feet from where I am standing.

9 For further information see http://www.nevadaindianterritory.com/, accessed 10 June 2018.

       CHAPTER 2

       WATCHING

      ‘THIS IS AN AUSTIN POWERS PARKING MANOEUVRE RIGHT NOW.’

      DEAN, REAPER PILOT

      DAY 1

      I exit the building through the crew room door with an empty bladder and a full bottle of water. By the time I return in a few hours the water will have swapped locations. I don’t know why I am preoccupied with bodily functions. My mind is on overload, trying to take in everything I have seen and heard in less than one hour. Open cups or mugs are forbidden because accidental spillage in an electronically dense environment could cost huge sums of money in damages and vital