Basrah, Iraq
Kabul, Afghanistan
By Kathleen T. Rhem - American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2005 – Once used only for remote reconnaissance, unmanned aircraft technology has rapidly evolved in recent years. Such systems now feature strike capabilities and are being used for force-protection and signals-collection missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Unmanned aerial systems "have helped reduce the complexity and time lag in the 'sensor-to-shooter chain' for acting on 'actionable intelligence,'" according to a document released earlier this month.
The Unmanned Aircraft Systems Roadmap 2005-2030, released Aug. 4 with more than 200 pages, explains these diverse systems range from "micro air vehicles, weighing less than a pound, to massive aircraft weighing more than 40,000 (pounds), and vary in cost from a few thousand dollars to tens of millions."
The roadmap, now in its third iteration, lays out technology goals for developing unmanned systems over the next 25 years, explained Dyke Weatherington, deputy director of DoD's Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Planning Task Force.
Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, Weatherington explained that even the name of the roadmap has changed from previous iterations. "Unmanned aerial vehicle," generally referred to as UAV, has been the most commonly accepted term for such aircraft. DoD planners have recently changed that terminology to "unmanned aircraft system."
UAS better denotes that much more than just the vehicle is needed to make such systems useful to warfighters. "A UAV by itself doesn't do anything for anybody other than sit on the ramp and provide shade," Weatherington said. "I need an integrated capability to do the mission. ... That's a vehicle; that's sensor systems; that may be weapons; that's communication systems; that's command and control; that's trained operators. All those elements are critical to deliver the capability."
Unmanned systems are particularly well-suited for "information, surveillance and reconnaissance" missions at the tactical level, Weatherington said. Specific useful capabilities of such systems include full-motion video and "persistence" -- they can stay in an area observing a developing situation for extended lengths of time.
He said "well-over" 1,000 small, unmanned systems are currently in use in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The top technology goal in the roadmap is to develop the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System, to provide a key capability predominantly delivered by manned aircraft in operations today.
"Primarily, for mobile, dynamic targets, the solution today is to send manned tactical aircraft in to find, (identify) and destroy those," Weatherington said.
Manned aircrews aren't the ideal choice for these missions because they put aircrews at risk, he said.
Smaller unmanned systems are "somewhat disposable," Weatherington said. "We don't intend to dispose of them. But ... if you need to put them in a situation to save a life, and you end up leaving the aircraft, it's not a significant loss."
By Layla Bohm - News-Sentinel Staff Writer
Wednesday, Aug 17, 2005 - 06:57:42 am PDT
Two Lodi men jailed on charges of lying to FBI agents about a terrorism investigation are once again asking that a federal judge grant them bail.
Defense attorneys filed the court documents Monday night -- the same day two Lodi men were deported to Pakistan and a third agreed to deportation. In the six-page motions, the attorneys argued that Umer and Hamid Hayat should be granted bail because they are not charged with terrorism and pose no flight risk.
The father and son have been jailed for more than two months after being arrested in an ongoing terror investigation. A total of five Lodi men were arrested in June, but the other three only faced administrative immigration violations.
Defense attorneys Johnny Griffin III and Wazhma Mojaddidi pointed out in their court filings that, though the other three men were accused of having ties to the Taliban and of making plans to recruit terrorists in Lodi, they were never charged.
"It is disingenuous for the government to argue that (the Hayats) must remain in custody while others with seemingly direct ties to Osama bin Laden are set free," the attorneys wrote, asking for a hearing in U.S. Eastern District Court next Monday.
In immigration court proceedings earlier this month, the FBI agent leading the investigation showed a diagram allegedly linking former Lodi imams Mohammed Adil Khan and Shabbir Ahmed to bin Laden.
The men, along with Adil Khan's 19-year-old son, Mohammed Hassan Adil, were detained but never charged criminally. The Khans left for Pakistan on Monday, and Ahmed is expected to leave in two to three weeks, according to his attorney.
Now, only the Hayats face charges.
Umer Hayat, 47, has lived in the United States since 1976 and has been an ice cream truck driver in Lodi for 15 years. He, his wife of 25 years and their four children are all U.S. citizens, according to defense attorneys.
Hamid Hayat, 22, was born in Stockton and has lived in the area except for a family trip in 2003 to Pakistan. He stayed there for about two years and got married, then returned to the U.S. on May 30.
Two days later, he went to work picking cherries, and he plans to file immigration papers so his wife may move to the U.S.
Additionally, the attorneys wrote in their motions, the FBI took the Hayats' passports, which would make it much harder for them to travel.
The father and son, along with Umer Hayat's brother-in-law, own property in Lodi. They would be willing to use the property and duplex, valued at $240,000, to secure bond, according to the court documents.
Based on evidence provided to the defense, the Hayats have been under investigation since August 2002. Griffin and Mojaddidi pointed out that, "notwithstanding this lengthy and intrusive investigation, the government has found no evidence to charge (them) with terrorist activity."
A trial had been set for Aug. 23, but a judge postponed it to at least October, citing the large amount of evidence being collected from federal agencies.