THE BIG READ: Rise of the drones

Drones are not just killing Al Qaeda leaders, they are also being used in the US, reports John Hearne

IN Saskatchewan, Canada, early last month, emergency dispatchers took a 911 call from a man whose car had flipped over in freezing conditions in a remote corner of the province. The injured driver didn’t know his location and couldn’t direct emergency services, so the police dispatched a helicopter crew with night vision equipment to sweep the area.

After a fruitless search, the helicopter returned to base. In its place, the police sent out a Draganflyer drone with an infrared camera to the last recorded location of the man’s mobile phone GPS.