Libyan Rebel UAV

Not all of the Libyan rebels’ weaponry was jerry-rigged DIY gear put together from whatever arms (or toys) the militia could find. For the first time we’re seeing that the rebels used a thoroughly 21st Century tool of war; the UAV.

The Scout micro UAV, made by the Canadian firm Aeryon Labs, was used by the rebels to gain intelligence on Gadhafi’s troops. As you’ll see in the video (after the jump), the rebels were able to use the three-pound, VTOL aircraft after only a day and a half of training. Check out the Scout’s thermal camera video of a Libyan artillery position firing at night at the 59-second mark.
The little battery-powered quad-rotor, yes, quad-rotor can fly for 25 minutes up to 13,000 feet and operate in temperatures up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Aeryon. It uses GPS for navigation and has a range of just under two miles, likely due to its WiFi-based comms system.
While likely not “exquisite”, to use Pentagonese, this weapon was obviously durable, portable and really easy to use. Rebel pilots controlled it using a “map-based touch screen interface” (almost an auto pilot) rather than a traditional joystick and video camera and watched as the intel was fed to their computers.
Another Canadian firm, Zariba Security Corporation, was tasked with getting the drone to the rebels and training them how to use it.