http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/world/africa/25canada.html
August 24, 2011
Libyan Rebels Reportedly Used Tiny Canadian Surveillance Drone
By IAN AUSTEN
OTTAWA -- Libyan rebels have been coordinating their attacks using a Canadian-made, unmanned surveillance aircraft, the drone's manufacturer announced Tuesday.
David Kroetsch, the president and chief executive of the manufacturer, Aeryon Labs of Waterloo, Ontario, said in an interview that his company was first approached by a representative of the Libyan Transitional National Council early in June, after members of the group searching the Web saw the company's surveillance aircraft -- essentially a tiny, four-rotor helicopter dangling a pod carrying stabilized-image day- and night-vision cameras.
The drone is extremely compact -- the company says that it weighs about three pounds and fits into a backpack -- and its operator does not need any knowledge of flight. Mr. Kroetsch said such factors were crucial for the rebels. The device is simply controlled by tracing flight paths on maps displayed on a touch screen display. Its base price is $120,000.
"They knew that they needed air support of some kind because they were fighting blind on the ground," Mr. Kroetsch said. "But they couldn't afford helicopters."
Aeryon notified the Canadian government about the potential sale, both to get approval and to verify the identities of the buyers. Mr. Kroetsch said the government had no objections, partly because the sale involved a civilian version of the battery-powered drone sometimes used by oil companies to survey spills. Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. There was no independent confirmation of the sale from the rebels in Libya.
Mr. Kroetsch described the process as involving "a series of connections" over several weeks.
"It was a very complicated set of people involved," Mr. Kroetsch said. "It's not the most organized group in general."
Ultimately, the drone was purchased for the transitional council by a private security company based in Ottawa, Zariba Security, which has given training and operational support for other Aeryon customers.
Charles Barlow, the president of Zariba, said that he brokered the purchase, and that assembling the financing involved hundreds of e-mails among people in eight countries, suggesting considerable donations from outside of Libya.
Mr. Barlow delivered the drone himself in July, taking it on an 18-hour voyage from Malta to the Libyan port of Misurata on a former South Korean fishing ship chartered by the rebels. The ship was also carrying a BBC film crew, two ambulances from the German Red Cross, several cellphone engineers and some mine-removal experts.
Mr. Barlow said he stayed in Misurata for two days to train the drone's operators while the city was under steady artillery and rocket assault.
When he left Misurata, Mr. Barlow said, he was told that the drone would first be used to survey the highway to Tripoli. Where it has been used since is unclear, but Mr. Barlow was told about three days ago that the drone was still flying.
