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The threat of drone attacks harming the White House or the president is very, very small
Washington Post ^ | January 26, 2015 | Philip Bump

Posted on 01/26/2015 12:38:14 PM PST by Seizethecarp

At some point Sunday night, someone flew a small drone onto the grounds of the White House. White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters that the drone -- or, to remove the ambiguity of that overly broad term, the small quadcopter -- posed no threat to the building or its inhabitants.

The incident raises the question: Could a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) pose such a threat? To answer that, we need to know the answer to three other questions. How far can a UAV fly? How is it controlled? And: What can it carry?

Could a larger drone approach the White House at night, unseen? Maybe. But it would likely require the use of a pre-programmed path -- and it's likely that any such attack could be thwarted.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; US: District of Columbia; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: drone; obama; quadcopter; uav; whdrone
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To: taxcontrol
Several drones are able to carry pay loads above a pound.

Beerlift Entry 47.04kg

That's over 103 lbs

21 posted on 01/26/2015 1:16:20 PM PST by BwanaNdege
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To: SkyDancer

Recall the dude that jumped the fence, ran through an open door, and the started running up the stairs?

A quad-copter of the size described with one of the micro video cameras, controlled by a smart phone could follow the same path. Imagine a directed small payload. Once it’s inside how do you stop it? Handguns? Brooms?

Ponder it having a payload of a dozen micro quads or the mosquito size drones currently flying in labs. Pick your poison.

Purpose of terror is to generate fear and uncertainty. Even with no casualties the objective would have been obtained. TSHTF and then what?


22 posted on 01/26/2015 1:19:38 PM PST by Covenantor ("Men are ruled...by liars who refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern." Chesterton)
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To: Seizethecarp

Sounds like the usual servile behavior of the ComPost to this administration.


23 posted on 01/26/2015 1:26:49 PM PST by KC_Conspirator
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To: BwanaNdege

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkG9ERd_UDk

Arducopter 2.9.1 quadcopter drone autonomous gps navigation on waypoints with telemetry and MP


24 posted on 01/26/2015 1:34:43 PM PST by BwanaNdege
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To: BwanaNdege

The electronics to control and guide either a “quad-copter/hexa-copter” or an old fashioned model airplane are readily available and could be adapted to very large model aircraft or to an old Cessna 150/152 two seat airplane.

The Cessna 152 can legally carry about 500#, less 36# for an hour’s worth of fuel. It would fly at about 100-110 mph. A used 152 in flyable shape could be bought for $15K or less.

The “bad guys” have already thought of this, so I’m not “giving away the store.”

“The best defense is a good offense.”


25 posted on 01/26/2015 1:42:01 PM PST by BwanaNdege
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To: taxcontrol

“Several drones are able to carry pay loads above a pound. This creates the possibility of a drown fitted with a small pipe bomb. I’m not thinking that it would be very effective and it would have to get really close to do any real damage, but ......”

Could 15-20 people fly them towards the white hut? Can’t shoot them all out of the sky.


26 posted on 01/26/2015 1:45:19 PM PST by EQAndyBuzz (Islam is the military wing of the Communist party.)
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To: BwanaNdege

...Imagine a payload of scores of smaller quads as per my post 22, launched like paratroops with a scatter program.

Micro mass has a quality of it’s own.


27 posted on 01/26/2015 1:57:53 PM PST by Covenantor ("Men are ruled...by liars who refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern." Chesterton)
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To: Seizethecarp

I’ve wondered over the years just how safe the White House really is. When Clinton lived there a guy landed a small plane of the WH roof! At around the same time another guy fired SKS rounds at it. In 2011, a man with a high power rifle fired 8 rounds at the WH from a couple blocks away (see link). And now we have a drone land on the WH lawn. I think we’ll see the streets permanently closed around the WH in the near future. To some crazy people it must look like a big target.

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2023272819_idahoshooterxml.html


28 posted on 01/26/2015 1:59:45 PM PST by Cry if I Wanna
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To: Seizethecarp

It would be a threat if drones were on a golf course.


29 posted on 01/26/2015 2:13:45 PM PST by Organic Panic
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To: Seizethecarp

“..TWO WAPO articles today in quick succession reinforcing the harmlessness of the drone crash at the White House today...”

if the WAPO said that we have proof positive that it is a major problem and that drones are, indeed, a threat to the WH, POTUS and all that live and work in the WH.


30 posted on 01/26/2015 2:26:39 PM PST by elpadre (AfganistaMr Obama said the goal was to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-hereQaeda" and its allies.)
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To: Seizethecarp

US drones fly out of Northern Africa into Iraq, Syria and Iran with explosives, traveling great distances and take out buildings, trucks, tanks, etc.

What protects the WH or any place else for that matter of similar attacks?? The Iranians found a complete US Drone that had crash landed and fabricated a new one from the parts. They now know the technology.


31 posted on 01/26/2015 2:32:00 PM PST by elpadre (AfganistaMr Obama said the goal was to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-hereQaeda" and its allies.)
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To: TexasRepublic

This is one I’d like to have.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_bH_XI4hv8

I saw a Corsair at Hobbytown I am interested in.

A mini jet would be wild and hate to think how much it cost.


32 posted on 01/26/2015 2:39:27 PM PST by wally_bert (There are no winners in a game of losers. I'm Tommy Joyce, welcome to the Oriental Lounge.)
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To: Seizethecarp

Late in the 4:00 PM hour CNN’s Jake Tapper reported (IIRC) that it was the drone operator who called the Secret Service at about 3:00 AM to report that he had crashed his drone on the WH lawn! Up to that time the SS was not aware that there had been an intrusion, apparently...


33 posted on 01/26/2015 2:46:37 PM PST by Seizethecarp (Defend aircraft from "runway kill zone" mini-drone helicopter swarm attacks: www.runwaykillzone.com)
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To: Seizethecarp

Secret Service took the drone operator into custody and determined that he and the drone were supposedly harmless...


34 posted on 01/26/2015 2:48:43 PM PST by Seizethecarp (Defend aircraft from "runway kill zone" mini-drone helicopter swarm attacks: www.runwaykillzone.com)
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To: Seizethecarp

“Excuse me Mr. Obama, but I flew my drone into your yard. Could I have it back?”


35 posted on 01/26/2015 2:51:53 PM PST by Nachoman (My guns and my ammo, they comfort me.)
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36 posted on 01/26/2015 2:57:35 PM PST by tomkat (when all else fails > RTFM)
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To: dinodino
The threat is small because drones are super-easy to spot above the fairway...

So, you're saying, don't worry about the WH, it's hardened, let's get a Golf Course Mini- Iron Dome? Good one.

Maybe Bibi will supply it.

37 posted on 01/26/2015 3:01:44 PM PST by Pearls Before Swine
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To: Pearls Before Swine

Nope, we could just skip it.


38 posted on 01/26/2015 3:04:12 PM PST by dinodino
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To: Seizethecarp

White House helicopter lands, a drone moves in with explosives or minigun. Helicopter and prez dead.


39 posted on 01/26/2015 3:55:11 PM PST by minnesota_bound
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To: tomkat

See BS news tonight introduced the story by saying there was amusement and a little concern at the white house as a drone blah, blah, blah... stopped me in my tracks. Amusement and a little concern!!!


40 posted on 01/26/2015 4:29:49 PM PST by duckworth (Perhaps instant karma's going to get you. Perhaps not.)
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