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After less than eight months of development, the algorithms are helping intel analysts exploit drone video over the battlefield. Earlier this month at an undisclosed location in the Middle East, computers using special algorithms helped intelligence analysts identify objects in a video feed from a small ScanEagle drone over the battlefield. A few days into the trials, the computer identified objects — people, cars, types of building — correctly about 60 percent of the time. Just over a week on the job — and a handful of on-the-fly software updates later — the machine’s accuracy improved to around 80 percent....

By June 2008, the city of Houston will use the same military drone aircraft currently used to hunt down terrorists overseas to write speeding citations on Texas freeways. Local television station KPRC exposed the Houston Police Department's plan by using the station's news helicopter to spy on what was supposed to be a confidential gathering of area law enforcement personnel where the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capabilities were demonstrated. The test took place seventy miles northwest of Houston in Waller County. While police have used aircraft to issue speeding tickets for years, the practice can be quite expensive. The cost...

AL ASAD, Iraq (Nov. 6, 2007) -- Being able to see and assess a situation in a combat environment is essential for success. Sometimes service members wish they had an extra pair of eyes, or eyes on the back of their heads. Thanks to one unit, the Al Qaim ground units have an extra pair of eyes. Those extra eyes are provided by the Marines and civilians that analyze information and operate the Scan Eagles flown by Marine Unarmed Aerial Squadron 2, Detachment B. “The basic mission here is to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support via the Scan Eagle...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Flying over Haditha, Iraq, on November 19, 2005, a small, unmanned spy plane called "Scan Eagle" recorded scenes of heavy fighting -- bombings and strafings from the air, and ground work by U.S. Marines seeking insurgents who earlier in the day had set off a roadside bomb that killed one of their members. Lawyers for Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich will introduce video of Haditha taken by a drone as evidence. The Scan Eagle arrived about 30 minutes after the initial bomb attack on the Marines and does not show the the civilians being killed. It...

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- The Boeing Co. said Tuesday it has won an $18 million U.S. Marine Corps contract for new ScanEagle ISR systems. Boeing described the ScanEagle as "a long-endurance, fully autonomous unmanned aircraft." The unmanned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or ISR aircraft "has been used by the Marines since July 2004, the U.S. Navy since September 2005 and the Australian Defense Forces since November 2006. During that time, ScanEagles have flown more than 4,600 sorties and 50,000 flight hours, including 34,000 hours with the Marine Expeditionary Forces," the company said. Boeing said the ScanEagle was developed...

ST. LOUIS, July 6, 2005 – ScanEagle, a long-endurance fully autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Boeing [NYSE:BA] and The Insitu Group, successfully completed sea trials aboard the USS Cleveland as part of the U.S. Navy-sponsored 2005 Joint Task Force Exercise The two week exercise off the San Diego coast tested and evaluated the battle group’s reaction to multiple wartime scenarios, and is the final certification prior to deploying. The trials verified ScanEagle’s shipboard launch and recovery capabilities as the UAV completed four launches and captures, as well at 68 approaches, aboard the Cleveland. ScanEagle also provided real-time video...

ST. LOUIS, May 26, 2005 – ScanEagle, a long-endurance fully autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by Boeing [NYSE:BA] and The Insitu Group, has surpassed 3,000 combat flight hours during operations in Iraq in just ten months. The low-cost UAV has proven to be one of the military's most effective tools for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the war on terrorism. Since being deployed by the First Marine Expeditionary Force in August 2004, ScanEagle has accumulated flight hours at an increasingly high rate due to the need for its unmatched capabilities. "The Marines...

Boeing Co. received a $14.5 million contract from the U.S. Navy for unmanned aerial vehicles and related services, the company said Monday. Boeing will provide ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), communication links and ground equipment to support the Navy's requirements. The Navy will use the ScanEagle systems during missions to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance coverage and to increase oil platform security in the Persian Gulf. The UAV, developed and built by Boeing and Bingen, Wash.-based Insitu Group, was first deployed with the First Marine Expeditionary Force in summer 2004. ScanEagle carries either an inertially stabilized electro-optical or an infrared...

ST. LOUIS, March 14, 2005 - Boeing [NYSE:BA] and The Insitu Group recently demonstrated new autonomy software aboard ScanEagle, a long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The software, imbedded in ScanEagle’s auxiliary processor board, allowed the UAV to autonomously map its route while in flight and complete a series of maneuvers. The new technology would enable a UAV in the field to map its own path without operator input and fly to an area to locate fixed and moving ground targets, monitor weapon strikes or provide imagery for damage assessment. At present, an operator on the ground must plot the UAV’s...

 I MEF's new unmanned aerial vehicleSubmitted by: I Marine Expeditionary ForceStory Identification #: 200482664828Story by Sgt. Robert E. Jones Sr. CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Aug. 26, 2004) -- Two of the top leaders in the Marine Corps came to Camp Fallujah to see I Marine Expeditionary Force’s new “eyes in the sky.” The Assistant commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Spyder Nyland and Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps. Sgt. Maj. John L. Estrada viewed a demonstration of the Scan Eagle unmanned aerial vehicle, August 23 at I MEF intelligence headquarters. “The Scan Eagle is a low-cost, long-endurance fully autonomous...