Northern Ireland Aviation Enthusiast's Forum
Military Aviation => Modern Military Aircraft => Topic started by: casper on January 05, 2009, 12:48:50 PM
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In 2007, Ireland bought two Israeli Orbiter UAV systems, for $550,000 each. It has lost two of their six UAVs in Chad, where a battalion of Irish peacekeepers are operating. The second one UAV casualty apparently tried to fly back to Ireland, after it lost its communications link with the operator. The Orbiter is programmed to head back to the operator if it loses its comm link. But this Orbiter apparently still had a GPS location back in Ireland in its memory, and headed there. Since Ireland is 5,000 kilometers from Chad, the Orbiter ran out of juice and landed about 4,800 kilometers short of its goal.
More Info (http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htairfo/articles/20081229.aspx)