President Barack Obama has confirmed the US is using unmanned aircraft to target suspected militants in tribal areas of Pakistan. He defended the drone attacks， saying they made precision strikes and were kept on a “tight leash1”.

What are drones used for and how are they controlled？

To the military， they are UAVs （Unmanned Aerial Vehicles） or RPAS （Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems）. However， they are more commonly known as drones.

Drones are used in situations where manned flight is considered too risky or difficult. They provide troops with a 24-hour “eye in the sky”， seven days a week. Each aircraft can stay aloft2 for up to 17 hours at a time， loitering3 over an area and sending back real-time imagery of activities on the ground.

Those used by the United States Air Force and Royal Air Force range from small intelligence， surveillance and reconnaissance craft， some light enough to be launched by hand， to medium-sized armed drones and large spy planes.

[ Key Uses：

Intelligence， surveillance4， reconnaissance5

Checking for roadside bombs or devices on landing areas

Listening to mobile phone conversations

Helping understand daily routine of locals to see what is normal behavior

Close Air Support

Following or attacking suspected insurgents6]

Although the US does not routinely speak publicly about operations involving drones， President Obama has confirmed that they regularly strike suspected militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

The use of such unmanned aircraft in the area began under President George W. Bush， but their use has more than doubled under the Obama administration.

Drones are seen by many in the military as delivering precision strikes without the need for more intrusive7 military action. However， they are not without controversy.

Hundreds of people have been killed by the strikes in Pakistan—civilians as well as militants， causing outrage. One of the deadliest attacks was in March 2011 when 40 were killed， many believed to be civilians at a tribal meeting.

奧巴馬總統(tǒng)確認(rèn)：美國(guó)正使用無(wú)人機(jī)來(lái)鎖定巴基斯坦部落可疑的激進(jìn)分子。他為無(wú)人機(jī)攻擊事件辯護(hù)。奧巴馬說(shuō)：無(wú)人機(jī)打擊精確，并處于“嚴(yán)格的控制”中。

什么是無(wú)人機(jī)呢？它們?nèi)绾问芸兀?/p>

在軍事上，它們被稱為“無(wú)人航空器”或“遙控飛航系統(tǒng)”，但更多情況下它們被稱為無(wú)人機(jī)。

無(wú)人機(jī)用在人工飛行太危險(xiǎn)或太困難的地區(qū)。他們給軍隊(duì)提供24小時(shí)的“天空之眼”，一周7天。每個(gè)飛行器一次能在天上飛17個(gè)小時(shí)，徘徊在一個(gè)區(qū)域，送回地面活動(dòng)的實(shí)時(shí)圖像。

美國(guó)空軍和英國(guó)皇家空軍使用的無(wú)人機(jī)包括小型情報(bào)監(jiān)視偵查器（有些輕到能用手發(fā)射）、中型武裝無(wú)人機(jī)和大型間諜無(wú)人機(jī)。

主要用途：

情報(bào)收集、監(jiān)視和偵查

檢查路邊炸彈或者著陸區(qū)的爆炸裝置

竊聽手機(jī)通話

協(xié)助了解當(dāng)?shù)厝粘Ｉ钜?guī)律，來(lái)判斷行為是否異常

近距離空中支援

跟蹤或者攻擊可疑的叛亂分子]

盡管美國(guó)例行會(huì)上不公開談?wù)撋婕盁o(wú)人機(jī)的行動(dòng)，但奧巴馬總統(tǒng)已經(jīng)確認(rèn)：無(wú)人機(jī)時(shí)常打擊巴基斯坦部落區(qū)可疑的激進(jìn)分子。

在此地區(qū)使用這樣的無(wú)人機(jī)始于喬治·W·布什總統(tǒng)在任期間，但在奧巴馬政府中，無(wú)人機(jī)的使用增加了兩倍多。

軍方很多人認(rèn)為在沒有必要有介入性軍事行動(dòng)的時(shí)候，無(wú)人機(jī)可用來(lái)實(shí)施精確打擊。然而，它們并非毫無(wú)爭(zhēng)議。

數(shù)以百計(jì)的巴基斯坦人被無(wú)人機(jī)打死——不但有軍人也有平民，這引發(fā)了眾怒。傷亡最慘重的一起攻擊事件在2011年4月，40人被打死，據(jù)悉，很多死者是在參加部落會(huì)議的平民。