U.S., Afghanistan: A New Class of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

A number of reports suggest that U.S. Special Operations Command is planning to deploy a new rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to Afghanistan in early 2010. Meanwhile, the U.S. Marines may acquire a similar UAV that could see action in Afghanistan even sooner. Both programs have the potential — should they succeed — to offer important tactical benefits for U.S. forces.