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U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Sunday that they used MQ-9 reaper drones to take out ISIS leader Usamah al-Muhajir in Eastern Syria. No civilian casualties have been reported.U.S. airstrike targets ISIS leader in eastern Syria.https://t.co/RtzKlBhXKE pic.twitter.com/A6IFnUGlXB— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 9, 2023“We have made it clear that we remain committed to the defeat of ISIS throughout the region,” said CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Kurilla. “ISIS remains a threat, not only to the region but well beyond.”The CENTCOM press release said that the operation will hurt ISIS’s attempts at further acts of terror:This will disrupt and degrade ISIS’s ability to...

Above the South China Sea (CNN)The Chinese navy issued warnings eight times as a U.S. surveillance plane on Wednesday swooped over islands that Beijing is using to extend its zone of influence. Seeking to further challenge China's military build-up in the South China Sea, the plane conducted a reconnaissance mission over a contested military installation being constructed on a manmade series of islands. A CNN team was given exclusive access to fly onboard the P8-A Poseidon, America's most advanced surveillance and submarine-hunting aircraft, as it flew over the islands. READ: China cautions U.S. Navy on patrols The U.S. is considering...

China tried to electronically jam U.S. drone flights over the South China Sea in a bid to thwart spying on disputed island military construction, U.S. officials said. Global Hawk long-range surveillance drones were targeted by the jamming in at least one incident near the disputed Spratly Islands, where China is building military facilities on Fiery Cross Reef. Disclosure of the jamming came as a U.S. Navy P-8 surveillance flight on Wednesday was challenged eight times by the Chinese military to leave the same area. “This is the Chinese navy … This is the Chinese navy … Please go away …...

The Federal Aviation Administration will authorize test sites for drone aircraft in upstate New York, New Jersey and at least eight other states, the agency said on Monday, but integrating the aircraft into the nation’s airspace, set by Congress for 2015, will be phased in gradually. The agency picked six institutions to operate test locations, which will explore how to set safety standards, how to train and certify their ground-based pilots, how to ensure that the aircraft will operate safely even if they lose their radio links with the ground and, most of all, how to replace the traditional method...

The US aviation regulator has announced the six states that will host sites for testing commercial use of drones. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) picked Alaska, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Texas and Virginia. The sites are part of a programme to develop safety and operational rules for drones by the end of 2015. Hitherto mainly used by the military, the potential of drones is now being explored by everyone from real estate agents to farmers or delivery services. The head of the FAA, Michael Huerta, said safety would be the priority as it considers approval for unleashing the unmanned...

MCLEAN, Va. — A top official with the Federal Aviation Administration reassured the public on Wednesday that, despite the fear and paranoia of some, no armed drones will be permitted to fly in U.S. airspace. “We currently have rules in the books that deal with releasing anything from an aircraft, period. Those rules are in place and that would prohibit weapons from being installed on a civil aircraft,” said Jim Williams, head of the FAA's Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Office, in an address to the drone industry’s leading trade group meeting this week in Northern Virginia.

A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be “senior operational leaders” of al-Qaida or “an associated force” -- even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S. The 16-page memo, a copy of which was obtained by NBC News, provides new details about the legal reasoning behind one of the Obama administration’s most secretive and controversial polices: its dramatically increased use of drone strikes against al-Qaida suspects, including those aimed at American citizens, such as the...

Superheroes often live double lives. But so do super-villains. For four years, the Obama administration has been living a double-life regarding drones. Publicly, the president and his leadership tell us they are using drones to protect our borders and promote national security. The administration dismisses challenges to its drone policies as falsehoods, but these “lies” are alarmingly close to the truth. True Drone Lies at HomeDrone creep is happening. On Valentine’s Day, Obama signed the unconstitutional FAA Modernization and Reform Act, allocating $63.6 billion to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) between 2012 and 2015. Basically, he authorized the FAA...

What do you know about drones? You know drones — those robotic, unmanned planes that fire missiles for the American military across Afghanistan, Pakistan and anywhere else the United States needs to get away with murder. Well if you don’t know too much, don’t worry, that’ll change soon. The Federal Aviation Administration is looking into rules that will bring the controversial aircraft into the country, creating an United States airspace buzzing with tiny, robot planes to look over every inch of American soil — and maybe more. An article published Tuesday in the Los Angeles Times reveals that new drone...