Zephyr: A High Altitude Long Endurance Unmanned Air Vehicle ...

Predator was used to kill suspected al-Qaida terrorists in Yemen [16]. This was thefirst time a Predator attack was conducted outside the country where a war is takingplace.5.1.4 ReconnaissanceUAVs can also be used by the military for reconnaissance, which is the exploration ofthe battlefield to gain information. It would be too dangerous to send a plane withpeople over a war zone in case the plane gets shot down and the passengers get killedor become hostages. It is much safer to send a UAV over the battlefield to take realtimeimagery or video footage of the land in order for the army to gain intelligenceabout where the other army is stationed and what they are planning. UAVs are alsomuch quieter and fly at higher altitudes than planes so they may not get spotted by theopposing army.It is also possible to use a UAV as a target and decoy. The aim is that the opposingarmy see the UAV in the sky and think that it is a plane carrying personnel from theother army. They then try and attack the UAV in order to bring it down and while theground and aerial forces are concentrating on the UAV, the other army can attackwhen least expected.5.1.5 CommunicationMostly commonly satellites are used for communication, for example the SkyNetgeostationary satellite used by the British Military [17]. Not only are satellites57