En Irak, les Am\u00e9ricains acc\u00e9l\u00e8rent \u00e0 un tr\u00e8s grand rythme l’utilisation des UAV et UCAV (v\u00e9hicules a\u00e9riens sans pilotes et v\u00e9hicules a\u00e9riens arm\u00e9s sans pilotes). L’Irak est aujourd’hui un lieu de pr\u00e9dilection pour leur emploi, ce qui n’\u00e9tait pas le cas \u00e0 l’origine. Associated Press a recueilli des pr\u00e9cisions chiffr\u00e9es, publi\u00e9es dans une d\u00e9p\u00eache du 1er janvier 2008<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \tEn voici quelques extraits:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00abThe military’s reliance on unmanned aircraft that can watch, hunt and sometimes kill insurgents has soared to more than 500,000 hours in the air, largely in Iraq, The Associated Press has learned.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbAnd new Defense Department figures obtained by The AP show that the Air Force more than doubled its monthly use of drones between January and October, forcing it to take pilots out of the air and shift them to remote flying duty to meet part of the demand.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbThe dramatic increase in the development and use of drones across the armed services reflects what will be an even more aggressive effort over the next 25 years, according to the new report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t()<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bb For some Air Force pilots, that means climbing out of the cockpit and heading to places such as Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, where they can remotely fly the Predators, one of the larger and more sophisticated unmanned aircraft.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbAbout 120 Air Force pilots were recently transferred to staff the drones to keep pace with demands, the Air Force said.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t()<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbAir Force officials said that Predator flights steadily increased last year, from about 2,000 hours in January to more than 4,300 hours in October. They are expected to continue to escalate when hours are calculated for November and December, because the number of combat air patrols had increased from about 14 per day to 18.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t()<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbThe bulk of the unmanned flight hours belong to the Army’s workhorse drone, the Raven, which weighs just four pounds and is used by smaller units, such as companies and battalions, in Iraq and Afghanistan.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbThe Ravens, which soldiers fling into the air and use for surveillance, will rack up about 300,000 hours this year double the time they were used last year, said Quackenbush.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbThe Army has a total of 361 unmanned aircraft in Iraq alone including Shadows, Hunters and Ravens. And in the first 10 months of 2007, they flew more than 300,000 hours.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbArmy officials have fought to maintain control of their unmanned vehicle usage, saying their unit commanders can quickly launch the smaller systems, and respond to the immediate needs of soldiers who may be pursuing insurgents or trying to avoid roadside bombs.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbWhen the Raven’s massive numbers are not included, UAV usage across all the military services jumped from nearly 165,000 flight hours in the 2006 fiscal year, to more than 258,000 for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2007.<\/em>\u00bb<\/p>\n<\/p>\n