OTTAWA–The Department of National Defence will have unmanned surveillance drones in the air above Kandahar by next January, according to government documents.

The new drone program, reported to be worth $120 million, will satisfy one of several conditions that must be met if the government is to extend Canada's military presence in Afghanistan past next February.

Other conditions include acquiring medium-lift transport helicopters and finding a NATO ally willing to send at least 1,000 more troops to Kandahar.

The military is looking to lease, rather than buy, the drones for two years, with the option to extend the contract for 12 months. The drones would be used to track insurgents from the sky rather than putting soldiers at risk on the ground.

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The drones will take over from the current crop of Spewer drones, which were purchased in 2003 for $34 million, and will fill the gap until the next phase of unmanned aircraft come on line in 2011-12.

Critics said the Spewers were poorly suited to the mission in Afghanistan because they were built to operate at sea level and could undertake missions of only five hours or less.

They also had difficulty landing in Kandahar. Rather than landing like a normal airplane, the ground operator simply cuts power to the Spewer's engine and deploys a parachute, which carries the craft to Earth. The imprecise landing capability meant that some drones were lost after they landed in minefields, according to reports.

The new drones must be capable of taking off from a runway at 1,800 metres above sea level, flying at least 100 kilometres from Kandahar Airfield, and remaining "over a target" for up to 12 hours. They must also be able to land "like a conventional aircraft," reads a list of instructions sent to industry players this week.

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