Free Republic

NORFOLK A new era in naval aviation is set to launch from the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush today, if all goes according to plan. For the first time ever, the Navy plans to catapult an unmanned aerial vehicle off a carrier flight deck, marking a strategic technological shift in naval aviation. The launch of the prototype X-47B from the Bush, steaming off the Virginia coast, follows months of shore-based launch tests at Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland. The objective: to show that automated aircraft can play an active role in air warfare operations at sea. "The addition...

The US Navy's quieter way to spy, the Ion Tiger, just bested its own 2009 flight record with a key assist from liquid hydrogen. The unmanned aerial vehicle had previously relied on 5000-psi compressed hydrogen for fuel, but for its latest flight test the Naval Research team swapped that out for a new cryogenic tank and delivery system that relies on the liquid stuff; a choice made for the element's increased density. With that one significant change in place, the craft was able to outperform its last endurance run of 26 hours and two minutes by almost double, lasting 48...

The X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator completes its first shore-based arrested landing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. May 4.

What is the V1-VR terrorist runway kill zone (RKZ)? The RKZ is a zone on an airport takeoff runway between two points called V1 and VR that every large multi-engine jet aircraft, such as Air Force One, must pass through while taking off. Here is a cockpit video of a 747-400 where the co-pilot can be heard to call out “V1″ at 1:24 and then call out “rotate” (VR) at 1:30, as required for all takeoffs. The runway zone travelled by the aircraft in the 6 seconds between V1 and VR for this takeoff is the RKZ. If any two...

TEL AVIV, Israel, April 26 (UPI) -- Israel, which has the most advanced defense industry in the Middle East, is in the forefront of the rapidly expanding drone business that's changing the way wars will be fought for decades to come. With state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries, Elbit Systems and Aeronautics Defense Systems developing new and more agile unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as ground and seaborne drones, the Jewish state seems well-placed to corner a big slice of a market valued at around $50 billion a year. Indeed, Israel's widely considered to be the leading UAV exporter in the world,...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was in a helicopter flight on the way to a tour of northern Israel, when the IAF spotted what is believed to have been a Hizbullah UAV in the skies of Haifa Thursday. The prime minister's staff, in consultation with security elements, decided to take no chances and instructed the helicopter pilot to land for a short time, until the successful interception of the UAV. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) penetrated Israeli air space from Lebanon Thursday, and was shot down. At around 2:00 p.m. Israel time (11:00 GMT), IAF aircraft belonging to the aerial defense...

Washington, D.C. 09 April (Asiantribune.com): It has been reported that an American military airstrike in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, April 6 that targeted a senior Taliban commander finally ended up in killing 18 people including women and children. Following an intense fighting on the ground American air support was called to flatten the home of the commander whose name has been released as Ali Khan In addition to killing Ali Khan and several other Taliban fighters, at least 10 children died, and at least 5 women were wounded, said Abdul Zahir Safi, the governor of the Shigal district, where the...

The Pentagon is cancelling a controversial medal designed to recognize contributions of unmanned aerial vehicle pilots and cyber troops, according to a Monday memorandum signed by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel obtained by USNI News.

Germany 'may buy weaponised drones from Israel' (AFP) – 13 hours ago BERLIN — Germany is in talks with Israel to buy weaponised drones for its military that are seen as more technologically advanced than US ones, the weekly Der Spiegel reported. The news magazine's Monday edition said the German defence ministry had already held two meetings with Israeli military officials, in November 2012 and February 2013, on the proposed purchase. The chief of Germany's air force, Lieutenant General Karl Muellner, was said to have recently gone to Israel to attend a presentation of Israel's Heron TP drone, Der Spiegel...

I am wearing a silver hoodie that stops just below the nipples. Or, if you prefer, a baggy crop-top with a hood. The piece – this is fashion, so it has to be a "piece" – is one of a kind, a prototype. It has wide square shoulders and an overzealous zip that does up right to the tip of my nose. It does not, it's fair to say, make its wearer look especially cool. But that's not really what this hoodie is about. It has been designed to hide me from the thermal imaging systems of unmanned aerial surveillance...

Tuesday was a banner day for Gulf Coast industry as the U.S. Navy announced it awarded Northrop Grumman Corp. a $71.6 million contract to produce the next generation of Fire Scout unmanned helicopters, assembled in Moss Point. In addition, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Lockheed Martin Corp. will invest $3 million and create 166 new jobs to build tanks for liquefied natural gas at the Michoud Assembly plant in New Orleans, where the space shuttle tanks were built. The initial 88-foot-long tanks will be used to fuel ships and transport fuel. And at Chevron's 2013 Security Analyst Meeting on...

Quadrocopters turn into pixels at the voestalpine Klangwolke and form 3D-Modells in the sky. As a world-premiere, the Ars Electronica Futurelab has managed to fly a formation outdoor with so many quadrocopters, painting some moments of magic into the nightsky of Linz.

The U.S. Air Force is developing tiny unmanned drones that will fly in swarms, hover like bees, crawl like spiders and even sneak up on unsuspecting targets and execute them with lethal precision. The Air Vehicles Directorate, a research arm of the Air Force, has released a computer-animated video outlining the the future capabilities of Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs). The project promises to revolutionize war by down-sizing the combatants.

A US senator has said an estimated 4,700 people, including some civilians, have been killed in the contentious bombing raids of America's secretive drone war. It was the first time a politician or any government representative had referred to a total number of fatalities in the drone strikes, which have been condemned by rights groups as extrajudicial assassinations.

A drone strike in the eastern Yemeni province of Shabwa last month killed the top religious cleric for Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a source close to the group said on Tuesday. "A drone strike had targeted Sheikh Adel al-Abab's vehicle but he escaped and fled to a mountainous region where a raid by another drone killed him immediately," the source told AFP on condition of anonymity. Abab had graduated from the Dawa Islamic studies center, in Sana'a and had served as the top religious cleric for AQAP. American drone strikes against Al-Qaeda terrorists are frequent in Yemen, home...

Isn't it neat living in a faceless, futuristic police state?  East Germany would have KILLED for just one of these things! The primary suspect in this case would be the Oakland-area Alameda County Sheriff's Department, who recently released a statement re. the department's (rapidly) evolving policy (-here-) regarding aerial drones, which they refer to in army-speak as an sUAS, or 'small Unmanned Aircraft System'...  Seems they're already rather-broadly approved within Alameda County for the following missions: Post-incident crime scene preservation and documentationExplosive ordinance disposal missionsResponse to hazardous materials spillsSearch and Rescue missionsPublic safety and life preservation missions to include barricaded suspects, hostage situations, active...

A clip from the episode of NOVA entitled "Rise of the Drones." The full episode can be viewed here: http://video.pbs.org/video/2326108547

The Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance-Imaging System (ARGUS-IS) program is developing a real-time, high-resolution, wide-area video surveillance system that provides the warfighter a minimum of 65 VGA video windows across the field of view. Each video window is electronically steerable independent of the others, and can either provide continuous imagery of a fixed area on the ground or be designated to automatically keep a specified target (dismount or vehicle) in the window.

For many, the word “drone” summons images of innocent civilians killed in wars conducted from thousands of miles away and raises concerns about invasions of privacy. For others, a drone is simply a next-generation military weapon that saves both lives and money. And for still others, drones are a fascinating backyard hobby for adults and children alike. But no matter what you think about them, drones are here to stay. The Air Force predicts that within a decade nearly 30 percent of its attack and fighter planes will be drones. It’s not just the military that sees their potential, either....

Meet a new breed of flying robots, from tiny swarming vehicles to giant unmanned planes. Airing January 23, 2013 at 9 pm on PBS. Drones. These unmanned flying robots–some as large as jumbo jets, others as small as birds–do things straight out of science fiction. Much of what it takes to get these robotic airplanes to fly, sense, and kill has remained secret. But now, with rare access to drone engineers and those who fly them for the U.S. military, NOVA reveals the amazing technologies that make drones so powerful as we see how a remotely-piloted drone strike looks and...

Orlando Florida Patrolled By Surveillance Drones As Early As This Summer Robert JohnsonJan. 13, 2013, 8:18 AMOctatron shows the camera aboard the SkySeer drone used for surveillance and reconnaissance for law enforcement When Congress passed a bill last February allowing unmanned drones to fly American skies it became only a matter of time before UAVs patrolled U.S. cities for local law enforcement. While most drones in the U.S. are flown along the Mexican border, the Orange County Sheriff's Office wants to put them over metro Orlando within the next few months. The Greater Orlando metropolitan area is home to more...

Less than a month ago, rumors that celebrity news and gossip website TMZ was interested in obtaining a paparazzi drone prompted privacy concerns and public debate about the appropriate personal and commercial uses of unmanned aerial vehicles. Now, a new online video poses a more troubling question: What if civilian drones are equipped to shoot more than just pictures? Titled “Citizen Drone Warfare” and posted to YouTube last week by an anonymous man calling himself “Milo Danger,” the video shows a hobbyist drone equipped with a custom-mounted paintball pistol flying over a grassy field and peppering human-shaped shooting-range targets with...

Western defense experts surprised to see 25+ new Chinese drones on display at Air Show China 2010...WJ600 jet-powered drone: And just what does that say for our military intelligence, anyway... must have been sleeping: ________________________________________________________ China is ramping up production of unmanned aerial vehicles in an apparent bid to catch up with the U.S. and Israel in developing technology that is considered the future of military aviation. Western defense officials and experts were surprised to see more than 25 different Chinese models of the unmanned aircraft, known as UAVs, on display at this week's Zhuhai air show in this southern...

<p>The 8-foot-long, sausage-shaped Silver Fox drone has a propeller in the front, and detachable wings and tail fins -- all of which fold neatly into a converted golf club bag. It isn't the only tactical UAV slated for testing during the second Gulf War.</p>

The U.S. Air Force drone, on a classified spy mission over the Indian Ocean, was destined for disaster from the start. An inexperienced military contractor in shorts and a T-shirt, flying by remote control from a trailer at Seychelles International Airport, committed blunder after blunder in six minutes on April 4. He sent the unarmed MQ-9 Reaper drone off without permission from the control tower. A minute later, he yanked the wrong lever at his console, killing the engine without realizing why. As he tried to make an emergency landing, he forgot to put down the wheels. The $8.9 million...

This great talk, given yesterday (2/29/12) at TED, is now live. I was here and the crowd was wowed. Check out the lovely math on simplifying the 12-dimensional math to 4 dimensions at around the 5:00 mark,

Just heard from Fox news 15 minutes ago that second drone above Bengazi came OUTSIDE Libya --it came from SIGONELLA, Sicily...! It was UNARMED and replaced the first drone that egressed owing to low fuel. For unmanned drone observation of an ongoing battle against an American target is it a requirement that cross-border ingress authorization come from **POTUS**..? Because THIS might have required that. Does anyone know? I'm asking because if that is so, then what is possible is that gayMuzzie permitted drone observation but required that it be UNARMED...! If you have one spun up and fueled then putting...

What Obama Could've Done in Libya October 24, 2012 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Laurie in Pittsburgh as we continue. Welcome to the program. Great to have you on the EIB Network. Hi. CALLER: Rush, I'm very honored to speak with you. Longtime listener. You truly changed my life. I was born a liberal. (laughs) I'm in central Pennsylvania and basically saw the light and I've since been conservative. I appreciate what I learn from you. I look forward to hearing your take on things. And I'd like for you, if you could today, to help to educate me. Here's my...

They began as tools in military combat. Now aerial drones are being considered by Bay Area law enforcement agencies as a cost-cutting way to replace helicopters, and use technology to fight crime and save lives. Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern first tested one of these Unmanned Aerial Systems or UAS about a year ago. Now he’s looking into possibly bringing a drone here. His office would be the first in California to do it. Armed with live-video-feeding capabilities and different features, like infrared devices, these drones can cost in the ballpark of 50- to 100-thousand dollars or more. There are...

..... All of Israel’s “peace-in-our-time” plans (including Bibi’s Jordan Valley Plan) are entirely based on variants of the 1967 Allon Plan which, like the Maginot Line defense, are based on yesterday’s technology and yesterday’s wars. IThe plan was named after famous Israeli general Yigal Allon. However, with the Israeli interception of the UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) over the Negev, there is a new highly lethal and precise terrorist military weapon which could strike from a “demilitarized” Palestinian "West Bank" State with pin-point accuracy into the heart of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem: Killer Terrorist UAVs. Firstly, most people think that under...

Iran’s Air Defense Base Commander has announced it has built an new unmanned long-range drone (UAV) that can carry a bomb. Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili broke the news one week after Iranian-financed Hizbullah launched a drone that entered Israeli air space before it was blown up by a missile from an F-16 jet. Esmaili did not state whether the new drone, dubbed Hazem, can reach Israel. He “noted that the drone will be used in targeting and identification operations, and for carrying cargo whenever needed,” the government’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported. The Iranian commander added that Hazem is not...

Former Lebanese prime minister Fouad Siniora accused Hizbullah, Sunday, of trying to entangle Lebanon into a military confrontation with Israel. Responding to the recent launching of an unmanned aerial vehicle by the Shi'ite terror group over the Jewish state, the Future Movement Member of Parliament said Hizbullah has no right to declare war and the words of Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah endanger the security of the people...

The IDF suspects that the small UAV intercepted Saturday morning by IAF jets over the northern Sinai was launched by Iranian proxy militia Hizbullah. The drone may have been searching for targets for Iranian attacks. The defense establishment has been looking at the fragments of the UAV, which fell in the area of southern Mount Hevron. According to reports, Israel initially suspected that it was launched from Sinai, but by Saturday evening, military sources said the military investigation showed the UAV had flown southward along Israel's Mediterranean coast before turning east over Gaza and heading into Israeli airspace. It is...

A moral question It doubtlessly is a damning report that the researchers of the American universities have delivered on America’s drone adventurism. It succinctly brings out what a horrendous toll it has been exacting on innocent civilian lives and keeping the whole lot of populace in the targeted areas in constant dread of drones and their fatal assaults. The psychological impact on the people is just terrible, it underlines. But will this report have any impact on the American strategists at all? Not even an outside chance. Over these times, the civil society worldwide is up in protest against...

NEW YORK: A 40-member American peace delegation is leaving for Pakistan next week to protest drone strikes and promote peaceful relations between US and Pakistan, it was announced on Friday. The delegation, organised by the activist group CODEPINK, a group of women peace activists, will meet with the families of drone victims, lawyers, academics, Pakistani politicians and US officials. On October 7, they will march to South Waziristan in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to protest US drone strikes that have killed more than 2,500 people, including civilians, CODEPINK said. “President Obama’s counter-terrorism chief John Brennan insists that US...

Intelligence sources in Cairo told Egyptian media that an Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) fired at a terrorist in Sinai Sunday and killed him. According to the reports, the terrorist was hit by a missile that was fired at him as he rode a motorcycle in the Bedouin area south of the village of Al-Kasia, about 15 kilometers from the Israeli-Egyptian border. Witnesses said the explosion left a crater two meters wide and 50 centimeters deep.

Russia must start development of a long-range bomber aircraft, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday at a meeting on defense orders. "We have to develop work on the new PAK-DA long-range bomber aircraft for Long-Range Aviation. I know how expensive and complex this is. We have talked about this many times with ministers, and with the head of the General Staff. The task is not easy from a scientific-technical standpoint, but we need to start work," Putin said.

Proposed US Military buildup under a conservative U.S. Administration circa 2012-2024 CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE The following plan is based on a major US economic turnaround based on sound Free Market principles geared to US interests, energy independendece, a balanced budget, stabilization of Social Security & Medicare & eliminating unessary and wasteful entitlements & entire federal agencies. It is also based,under a conservative leadership in Washington, on adopting lower corporate and individual income taxes so the revenue to the treasury expands and increases significantly which will fuel the buildup necessary to remain technologically superior by two generations...

A US Army drone strike in March killed a German citizen who had joined the jihad in Pakistan. His death has the potential to reignite the debate over the legitimacy of air strikes by unmanned drones and may increase diplomatic tensions with the US. Diplomatic Powder KegOn the morning of March 9, 29-year-old Samir H. was in a large pickup truck in southern Waziristan when a remote-controlled US Army drone, several kilometers high, took aim at the vehicle. Reports indicate that at least one of the three rockets launched by the drone hit the target and destroyed the pickup truck...

FORT HUACHUCA — This morning 16 soldiers of the 2nd Battalion 13th Aviation Regiment on Fort Huachuca, began their ear-long deployment to Afghanistan. The soldiers who fly and maintain the Army’s Gray Eagle. The unmanned aerial systems is a critical component of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance needed in the country. The battalion, is part of the 1st Aviation Brigade, which has its headquarters at the Fort Rucker, Ala., Army Aviation Center of Excellence. The soldiers department around 5:30 a.m. today, after a short ceremony, at which family members and others attended. See Thursday’s Herald/Review for more details.

The Chinese Navy Is Betting Big On Its New Submarine Hunting Drones Tackling the long-time nuisance of American submarines off its coastal waters China is deploying drones to its Navy ships. While not a new development on its own, there are reports of increased drone deployment to the PLA's ships, and a heightened attack against U.S. drone contractors. UPI reports Chinese hackers have ramped up their barrage of infected emails to glean as much information about the Pentagon's UAV strategy and development as they can. It's no secret that the Chinese military is in the habit of copying foreign hardware,...

Chinese Navy Employs UAV Assets By James C. Bussert, SIGNAL Magazine April 2012 The Middle Kingdom learns from the example—and the hardware—of other nations. China’s navy has begun using unmanned aerial vehicles as part of its blue-water operations. At least one type has been photographed by foreign reconnaissance aircraft, and other variants have been reported. Not only has China been displaying an assortment of models at air shows, it also is incorporating advanced U.S. unmanned vehicle technology into current and future systems. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been developing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) since it built copies of U.S....

Britain's Royal Air Force considering purchase of Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle U.K. looking at the Eitan system, also known as the Heron TP - the largest and most sophisticated drone Israel makes. LONDON - Britain's Royal Air Force has been considering the purchase of unmanned aerial vehicles from Israel. The Eitan, also known as the Heron TP, is the largest and most sophisticated drone Israel makes. It is assembled by Israel Aerospace Industries and began operational service in the Israel Air Force two years ago, in a new squadron at the Tel Nof airbase. The Eitan's wingspan is as wide...

Even on military flights, regular manned aircraft need to stop regularly so the crew can rest, bathe and unwind. But an unmanned drone can keep flying until it runs low on fuel, so the U.S. military drew up plans for nuclear powered drones that could stay airborne for months at a time. The catch 22 is that while a manned aircraft can stay airborne for extended periods using mid-air refueling, this requires a skilled team on the plane making true long tern endurance impossible. Working in collaboration with Sandia National Labs, Northrup Grumman drew up plans for a drone powered...

Pakistan recently demanded, again, that the United States halt the use of CIA UAVs to attack Islamic terrorists in the Pakistani tribal territories along the Afghan border. Pakistan, however, offered a compromise this time. If the Americans would tell Pakistan where U.S. intelligence had located terrorists, Pakistan would send one of its F-16s and use a smart bomb to do the deed. The U.S. turned this down for several reasons, the main one being that the Pakistanis would "miss" (or simply not be able to find) terrorists who were working for the Pakistani Army. The Pakistanis could also sell protection...

There have been a number of articles lately about the U.S. developing a new unmanned aerial vehicle in secret. Dave Majumdar, at Air Force Times, recently had an article about how the U.S. Air Force’s decision to postpone development of a next generation unmanned combat aircraft suggests that service might be developing something else in the “black world.” The article quoted USAF intelligence chief Lt.-Gen. Larry James who said that there is no immediate need for a next generation replacement for the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper. And the Predator-C Avenger UAV the USAF is buying will be used only as...

Jordi Munoz had no training. Scant schooling. Little money. He also had a video-game console and nothing else to do. So he built his own drone. A Mexican native, Mr. Munoz married an American citizen and moved to Riverside,Calif., in 2007. While waiting for his green card, the 21-year-old was marooned in his apartment, unable to work, attend school or obtain a driver’s license. On the other hand, he had an Internet connection. A Nintendo Wii. A radio-controlled toy helicopter his mother had given him to help kill time. Tinkering with the Wii’s control wand and a $60 gyroscope he...

DARPA is unveiling a portable laser weapons system, HELLADS, which seems like something out of a sci-fi movie. The new laser application, created by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems with a custom power system from Saft Batteries, will help change the way the American military fights future wars. Current military laser systems are bulky contraptions which are mainly the size of a passenger jet, while the proposed DARPA weapon can fit on the back of a flatbed truck. The 150-kilowatt, solid state laser weapon is strong enough to take down drones or other aerial targets; a prototype is expected to be...

Iran and Middle East-based extremist groups are stepping up their activities in South America, aiming to make friends and score cash, a senior U.S. military official says. Tehran intends to build military drones in Washington's backyard for the Venezuelan military led by Hugo Chavez, U.S. Southern Command chief Gen. Douglas Fraser told reporters Wednesday during a breakfast meeting in Washington "I would put it in the Scan Eagle class of UAV," Fraser said. "It's not up into the Predator class." The Southern Command chief was referring to two U.S.-made drone aircraft used by the American military. The Scan Eagle is...

In-flight electrical failure caused a Northrop Grumman EQ-4 to crash in Afghanistan on 20 August, says a newly-released accident investigation report. The aircraft crashed approximately 195km (120 miles) northwest of Kandahar. Specificlly, an electrical connector to an unidentified line replacement unit partially separated. This caused electrical damage inside the LRU, which cut power to the actuators that controlled ailerons and spoilers. Within 1min of the power failure, the aircraft lost control after hitting minor turbulence. "The Board President also found, by a preponderance of the evidence, that LRU installation methods were a contributing factor in the mishap," continues the report....