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back to article UK's Reaper wardroid imports slashed in budget pinch

Treasury financial difficulties would seem likely to severely restrict the size of Britain's fleet of "Reaper" aerial wardroid-assassins in the near future, according to reports. US clearance was obtained last year for export sales of a further ten Reaper/Predator-B robot spyplane-bombers to the UK, in addition to the three …

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  1. alistair millington
    Flame

    Don't worry though guys 'n' gals.

    The MP's voted themselves a pay rise recently.

    So that's okay then...

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  2. James Summerson
    Coat

    S'alright

    I have a "Don't Fear (The Reaper )" shirt.

    Yes, my coat's the one with the Cronos on the back...

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  3. Emj

    What the article doesn't mention...

    is that the US Air Force - which has a requirement for 25 of the "hunter-killer" aircraft - has booked up all production slots until 2012, placing further doubt on the export deal.

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  4. John A Blackley

    A little help with the math please

    So how many MP's London lovenests can be kitted out for the price of one drone?

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  5. Stephen
    Stop

    Why the hostility?

    This is the third or fourth article attacking Watchkeeper. Why the bias? Personally I am very happy that we intend to maintain an independent capability in this volatile world. Yes, Watchkeeper cost a lot, but most of that is for a 25 year support deal which would have been necessary for any solution. I would rather our tax money stayed in the country, created British jobs and didn't bugger up our balance of trade, any more than it already is, than just fed the American military industrial complex.

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  6. Elmer Phud
    Pirate

    "Once the UK has a drone industry . . ."

    . . . it will be sold off to an American venture capital consortium who will then sell back the drones at an inflated price.

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  7. Dave Bell
    Coat

    Economics can be weird...

    ...but Keynes was a lot less wrong than some of the modern breed.

    Spending money on a British project, putting wages in British pockets, even if most of the money goes to buy components from overseas sources, is better than sending all the boodle into foreign pockets.

    At least by paying British Boffins we can sustain the production of real beer, and maintain such vitally distinctive national traditions as morris-dancing.

    Remember, we're in a war against terrorists who want to destroy our way of life.

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  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Game of Rat and Dragon?

    I think we ought to build cat-brains into these weapons.

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  9. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    and a good thing too

    with the MODs track record in tech projects, would you really have wanted to have a drone no. 13?

    Armed?

    Mines the one on the peg over there, if you could just walk under that ladder for me, thanks

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  10. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    And the point is?

    Struggling to work out exactly what the point of this article is - the only consistent point with previous ones seems to be 'buy American, kill the UK defence industry' but that can't possibly be correct...

    .

    I also seem to remember seeing something about the early Hermes 450 purchases being basically part of an early Watchkeeper delivery, and due to be fed back in for upgrade to the full (Hermes 450 based) Watchkeeper once production comes online.

    At least that's what the supplier said.

    Which makes any use of the purchase in an attempted argument against Watchkeeper a bit weak.

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