IS IT A BIRD? IS IT A PLANE? NO, IT'S BIG BROTHER WATCHING

Is Big Brother, the ubiquitous monster who keeps tabs on people's actions
and even feelings in George Orwell's novel 1984, already here in the shape
of the drone?

The drone, which made its mark during the war in Kosovo, is an unmanned,
remote-controlled little plane that is able to reconnoitre every detail of
the terrain it flies over, identify activity going on there and bring back
its observations to those who control it from the ground.

Drones were used widely during the air offensive against the Serbs. They
were given evocative names such as Woodpecker, Kestrel, Pred ator and
Hunter. Depending on the altitude at which they flew and the tasks assigned
to them, drones located refugees, complemented information obtained from
satellites or by other reconnaissance aircraft - thus helping bombing plans
to be drawn up - and facilitated the assessment of damage caused to Serbian
forces and civilian infrastructure.

Although the drone is vulnerable because it flies at speeds and altitudes
that make it a tempting target, it is useful because it acts as the
commander-in-chief's eyes, transmitting the information it collects during
its flight either live or in recorded form.

The drone has set its manufacturers and users thinking. On the basis of
military experience acquired during peacekeeping operations by the Americans
in Panama and Somalia, and by the French in Bosnia and Kosovo, there is now
talk of more controversial uses for it.

Organised crime, terrorism, threats to use biological or chemical weapons,
and mass actions of all kinds that aim to spread panic among the population
can end up turning the inhabitants of "sensitive" inner-city areas, if not
whole cities, into hostages. According to army forecasts, 85% of the world's
population will live in cities in the next century.

To curb the risks of urban guerrilla warfare - "the new battlefield" for
which armies in some countries are preparing themselves without admitting as
much - the drone will be used in a Big Brother role.

Flown by security forces on apparently innocuous missions, it will monitor
the activities of extremist groups, ferret out arms and drugs caches, spot
snipers, identify no-go areas and follow demonstrators' movements.

But that is not all. In the event of serious urban disorders the drone will
be able to go one better than Big Brother and prepare the ground for
gunships to fly in and restore law and order. July 9