U.N. pens deal for unarmed surveillance drones over Congo

[EC]

Via Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/14/us-congo-un-idUSBRE96D09720130714

(Reuters) - U.N. peacekeepers in Democratic Republic of Congo will begin using unarmed drones on a trial basis to monitor its war-torn east, the head of peacekeeping operations told Reuters on Sunday.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, in Paris to attend France's Independence Day celebrations, told Reuters a deal signed on Friday with an unnamed company would allow for a "complete picture of what is happening" on the ground.

Thick forests, rugged terrain and few roads have complicated peacekeepers' efforts to control the area.

"We have just signed a commercial contract for the UAVs, and I say UAVs, not drones, as they are unarmed," Ladsous said, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles.

"This is a major innovation. For the first time the U.N. is going into state-of-the-art, 21st-century technology."

More at link.

Is this justified or justifiable?

[Oceander]

This should prove amusing.  The blue-helmet drones will probably be as ineffective in the sky as the blue-helmets themselves are on the ground.