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UAVs and UCAVs
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JAISWAL
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US OFFICIALS: US SEND DRONES INTO SKIES OVER SYRIA
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.
A good number" of unmanned U.S. military and intelligence drones are operating in the skies over Syria, monitoring the Syrian military's attacks against opposition forces and innocent civilians alike, U.S. defense officials tell NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski.
The officials said this surveillance is not in preparation for U.S. military intervention. Rather, the Obama administration hopes to use the overhead visual evidence and intercepts of Syrian government and military communications in an effort to "make the case for a widespread international response," the officials told Miklaszewski.
Unlike in Libya, there has been no widespread international support for military intervention in the country. And while there has been some discussion among White House, State Dept. and Pentagon officials about possible humanitarian missions, U.S. officials fear that those missions could not be carried out without endangering those involved and would almost certainly draw the United States into a military role in Syria.
.
.
US Officials: US send drones into skies over Syria - Daily Air Force Defense and Aviation
.
.
A good number" of unmanned U.S. military and intelligence drones are operating in the skies over Syria, monitoring the Syrian military's attacks against opposition forces and innocent civilians alike, U.S. defense officials tell NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski.
The officials said this surveillance is not in preparation for U.S. military intervention. Rather, the Obama administration hopes to use the overhead visual evidence and intercepts of Syrian government and military communications in an effort to "make the case for a widespread international response," the officials told Miklaszewski.
Unlike in Libya, there has been no widespread international support for military intervention in the country. And while there has been some discussion among White House, State Dept. and Pentagon officials about possible humanitarian missions, U.S. officials fear that those missions could not be carried out without endangering those involved and would almost certainly draw the United States into a military role in Syria.
.
.
US Officials: US send drones into skies over Syria - Daily Air Force Defense and Aviation
Bhadra
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ORWELLIAN DRONES: "Eye in the Sky" Spying on Americans
by Stephen Lendman
Global Research, February 13, 2012
Money power runs America. So do lobbies representing all corporate and other interests.
The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) represents dozens of influential companies.
They include Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Bell Hellicopter Textron, Sikorsky Aircraft, Goodrich, General Dynamics, Honeywell, Booz Allen Hamilton, Hill & Knowlton, and many more promoting unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) drone technology.
Against targeted countries, it's America's newest sport. From distant command centers, operators kill by remote control. They use computer keyboards and multiple monitors. UAVs stand ready round-the-clock for missions.
Predator drones perform sanitized killing on the cheap compared to manned aircraft. Independent experts believe militants are hit about 2% of the time. All others are noncombatants, despite official disclaimers.
In 1995, Predator drones were used for the first time in Bosnia. In 2001, the Global Hawk drone was used in Afghanistan. Throughout the Afghan and Iraq wars, the Pentagon used various type drones for combat and spying missions.
In Libya, Obama authorized Predator drones. They operated throughout the war. They're also used in Yemen, Somalia, and wherever Washington designates targets to kill.
US citizen Anwar al-Aulaqi was assassinated this way. So can anyone anywhere on America's hit list, including perhaps domestically before long.
Washington plans escalated drone killing, as well domestic spying on Americans. Currently, around one in three US warplanes are drones. One day perhaps they'll all be unmanned.
Domestic Drone Spying in America
On January 10, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) staff attorney Jennifer Lynch headlined, "Are Drones Watching You?" saying:
EFF sued the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for information on domestic drone use. Who's flying UAVs it asked?
Drones carry surveillance equipment, including video cameras, infrared ones, heat sensors, and radar for sophisticated virtually constant spying. Newer versions carry super high resolution "gigapixel" cameras. They enable tracking above 20,000 feet. They can monitor up to 65 enemies simultaneously, and can see targets up to 25 miles away.
Predator drones can eavesdrop on electronic transmissions. A new model's able to penetrate Wi-Fi networks and intercept text messages and cell phone calls covertly.
Even domestically, drones may be weaponized with tasers, bean bag guns, and other devices able to harm or perhaps kill.
Currently, the US Customs and Border Protection uses UAVs for surveilling borders. State and local law enforcement agencies also use them to investigate "cattle rustling, drug dealing, and the search for missing persons."
Flying above 400 feet requires FAA certification. Information's unavailable on who obtained authorizations for what purposes.
FAA comes under the Department of Transportation (DOT). It failed to respond to EFF's April 2011 FOIA request. EFF attorney Lynch said:
"Drones give the government and other (UAV) operators a powerful new surveillance tool to gather extensive and intrusive data on Americans' movements and activities."
"As the government begins to make policy decisions about the use of these aircraft, the public needs to know more about how and why these drones are being used to surveil United States citizens."
Drones "could dramatically increase the physical tracking of citizens - tracking that can reveal deeply personal details about our private lives. We're asking the DOT to follow the law and respond to our FOIA request so we can learn more about" what the public has a right to know.
The Supreme Court hasn't been people friendly on many issues, including privacy. In United States v. Place (1983), the court held that sniffs by police dogs trained to detect illegal drugs aren't searches under the Fourth Amendment.
They're sui generis, intended only to reveal the presence or absence of narcotics. In other words, Fourth Amendment protections don't apply to non-human searchers. As a result, privacy rights are on the chopping block for elimination. Already, in fact, they're gravely compromised under institutionalized Bush administration surveillance policy.
In 2007, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) authorized spying through the National Applications Office (NOA). It was described as "the executive agent to facilitate the use of intelligence community technological assets for civil, homeland security and law enforcement purposes within the United States."
With or without congressional authorization or oversight, the executive branch may authorize state-of-the-art technology, including military satellite imagery, to spy on Americans covertly.
Though initial plans were delayed, eye in the sky spying ahead potentially will monitor everyone everywhere once full implementation's achieved. Included will be thousands of Big Brother drones watching.
On February 3, the FAA Reauthorization Act (HR 658) cleared both houses of Congress after differences between Senate and House versions were resolved. Expect Obama to sign it shortly.
It authorizes domestic drone spying under provisions to test and license commercial drones by 2015. Estimates of up to 30,000 UAVs could overfly America by 2020. Privacy advocates are concerned. Steven Aftergood, head of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy, said:
"There are serious policy questions on the horizon about privacy and surveillance, by both government agencies and commercial entities.â€Â
According to Electronic Privacy Information Center's Amie Stepanovich, "Currently, the only barrier to the routine use of drones for persistent surveillance are the procedural requirements imposed by the FAA for the issuance of certificates."
Changing the rules changes the game. Expect it. It's coming once Obama signs HR 658. UAV proliferation already is expanding rapidly. A July 2010 FAA Fact Sheet said in America alone, "approximately 50 companies, universities, and government organizations are developing and producing some 155 unmanned aircraft designs."
America's expected to account for about 70% of global growth. In 2011, Congress, DOD, state and local governments, as well as AUVSI pressured the FAA to review and expand its current "Certificate of Authorization or Waiver (COA)" program related to unmanned aircraft (UA).
The agency's also examining its own rules for small UAs. It's expected to authorize expanded COA use shortly.
ACLU Concerns
On February 6, the ACLU headlined, "Congress Trying to Fast-Track Domestic Drone Use, Sideline Privacy," saying:
In fact, Congress already authorized expanded domestic drones. Obama's poised to sign HR 658 into law. Provisions in it include requiring FAA:
(1) to simplify and accelerate permission for drone operations. The agency's already working on loosening regulations by spring 2012.
(2) to establish a pilot project within six months for six test zones to integrate drones "into the national airspace system."
(3) create a comprehensive plan within nine months "to safely accelerate the integration of civil (privately operated) unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system."
(4) after submitting a comprehensive plan, publish final rules within 18 months to allow civil operation of small (under 55 pounds) drones in America's airspace.
On December 15, the ACLU published a report titled, "Protecting Privacy From Aerial Surveillance: Recommendations for Government Use of Drone Aircraft," saying:
They're coming to America. Privacy may be seriously compromised. Protections are urgently needed. The report recommends that "drones should not be deployed unless there are grounds to believe that they will collect evidence on a specific crime."
"If a drone will intrude on reasonable privacy expectations, a warrant should be required." The report also urges "restrictions on retaining images of identifiable people, as well as an open process for developing policies on how drones will be used."
Overflying America with drones unrestrained changes the game. A "surveillance society" will be institutionalized to monitor, track, and record "our every move."
Given a bipartisan penchant for spying, expect the worst. Privacy, like other civil and human rights, is fast disappearing under policies in place or coming to destroy it.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@....
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
The Progressive Radio News Hour - Progressive Radio Network
by Stephen Lendman
Global Research, February 13, 2012
Money power runs America. So do lobbies representing all corporate and other interests.
The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) represents dozens of influential companies.
They include Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Bell Hellicopter Textron, Sikorsky Aircraft, Goodrich, General Dynamics, Honeywell, Booz Allen Hamilton, Hill & Knowlton, and many more promoting unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) drone technology.
Against targeted countries, it's America's newest sport. From distant command centers, operators kill by remote control. They use computer keyboards and multiple monitors. UAVs stand ready round-the-clock for missions.
Predator drones perform sanitized killing on the cheap compared to manned aircraft. Independent experts believe militants are hit about 2% of the time. All others are noncombatants, despite official disclaimers.
In 1995, Predator drones were used for the first time in Bosnia. In 2001, the Global Hawk drone was used in Afghanistan. Throughout the Afghan and Iraq wars, the Pentagon used various type drones for combat and spying missions.
In Libya, Obama authorized Predator drones. They operated throughout the war. They're also used in Yemen, Somalia, and wherever Washington designates targets to kill.
US citizen Anwar al-Aulaqi was assassinated this way. So can anyone anywhere on America's hit list, including perhaps domestically before long.
Washington plans escalated drone killing, as well domestic spying on Americans. Currently, around one in three US warplanes are drones. One day perhaps they'll all be unmanned.
Domestic Drone Spying in America
On January 10, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) staff attorney Jennifer Lynch headlined, "Are Drones Watching You?" saying:
EFF sued the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for information on domestic drone use. Who's flying UAVs it asked?
Drones carry surveillance equipment, including video cameras, infrared ones, heat sensors, and radar for sophisticated virtually constant spying. Newer versions carry super high resolution "gigapixel" cameras. They enable tracking above 20,000 feet. They can monitor up to 65 enemies simultaneously, and can see targets up to 25 miles away.
Predator drones can eavesdrop on electronic transmissions. A new model's able to penetrate Wi-Fi networks and intercept text messages and cell phone calls covertly.
Even domestically, drones may be weaponized with tasers, bean bag guns, and other devices able to harm or perhaps kill.
Currently, the US Customs and Border Protection uses UAVs for surveilling borders. State and local law enforcement agencies also use them to investigate "cattle rustling, drug dealing, and the search for missing persons."
Flying above 400 feet requires FAA certification. Information's unavailable on who obtained authorizations for what purposes.
FAA comes under the Department of Transportation (DOT). It failed to respond to EFF's April 2011 FOIA request. EFF attorney Lynch said:
"Drones give the government and other (UAV) operators a powerful new surveillance tool to gather extensive and intrusive data on Americans' movements and activities."
"As the government begins to make policy decisions about the use of these aircraft, the public needs to know more about how and why these drones are being used to surveil United States citizens."
Drones "could dramatically increase the physical tracking of citizens - tracking that can reveal deeply personal details about our private lives. We're asking the DOT to follow the law and respond to our FOIA request so we can learn more about" what the public has a right to know.
The Supreme Court hasn't been people friendly on many issues, including privacy. In United States v. Place (1983), the court held that sniffs by police dogs trained to detect illegal drugs aren't searches under the Fourth Amendment.
They're sui generis, intended only to reveal the presence or absence of narcotics. In other words, Fourth Amendment protections don't apply to non-human searchers. As a result, privacy rights are on the chopping block for elimination. Already, in fact, they're gravely compromised under institutionalized Bush administration surveillance policy.
In 2007, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) authorized spying through the National Applications Office (NOA). It was described as "the executive agent to facilitate the use of intelligence community technological assets for civil, homeland security and law enforcement purposes within the United States."
With or without congressional authorization or oversight, the executive branch may authorize state-of-the-art technology, including military satellite imagery, to spy on Americans covertly.
Though initial plans were delayed, eye in the sky spying ahead potentially will monitor everyone everywhere once full implementation's achieved. Included will be thousands of Big Brother drones watching.
On February 3, the FAA Reauthorization Act (HR 658) cleared both houses of Congress after differences between Senate and House versions were resolved. Expect Obama to sign it shortly.
It authorizes domestic drone spying under provisions to test and license commercial drones by 2015. Estimates of up to 30,000 UAVs could overfly America by 2020. Privacy advocates are concerned. Steven Aftergood, head of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy, said:
"There are serious policy questions on the horizon about privacy and surveillance, by both government agencies and commercial entities.â€Â
According to Electronic Privacy Information Center's Amie Stepanovich, "Currently, the only barrier to the routine use of drones for persistent surveillance are the procedural requirements imposed by the FAA for the issuance of certificates."
Changing the rules changes the game. Expect it. It's coming once Obama signs HR 658. UAV proliferation already is expanding rapidly. A July 2010 FAA Fact Sheet said in America alone, "approximately 50 companies, universities, and government organizations are developing and producing some 155 unmanned aircraft designs."
America's expected to account for about 70% of global growth. In 2011, Congress, DOD, state and local governments, as well as AUVSI pressured the FAA to review and expand its current "Certificate of Authorization or Waiver (COA)" program related to unmanned aircraft (UA).
The agency's also examining its own rules for small UAs. It's expected to authorize expanded COA use shortly.
ACLU Concerns
On February 6, the ACLU headlined, "Congress Trying to Fast-Track Domestic Drone Use, Sideline Privacy," saying:
In fact, Congress already authorized expanded domestic drones. Obama's poised to sign HR 658 into law. Provisions in it include requiring FAA:
(1) to simplify and accelerate permission for drone operations. The agency's already working on loosening regulations by spring 2012.
(2) to establish a pilot project within six months for six test zones to integrate drones "into the national airspace system."
(3) create a comprehensive plan within nine months "to safely accelerate the integration of civil (privately operated) unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system."
(4) after submitting a comprehensive plan, publish final rules within 18 months to allow civil operation of small (under 55 pounds) drones in America's airspace.
On December 15, the ACLU published a report titled, "Protecting Privacy From Aerial Surveillance: Recommendations for Government Use of Drone Aircraft," saying:
They're coming to America. Privacy may be seriously compromised. Protections are urgently needed. The report recommends that "drones should not be deployed unless there are grounds to believe that they will collect evidence on a specific crime."
"If a drone will intrude on reasonable privacy expectations, a warrant should be required." The report also urges "restrictions on retaining images of identifiable people, as well as an open process for developing policies on how drones will be used."
Overflying America with drones unrestrained changes the game. A "surveillance society" will be institutionalized to monitor, track, and record "our every move."
Given a bipartisan penchant for spying, expect the worst. Privacy, like other civil and human rights, is fast disappearing under policies in place or coming to destroy it.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@....
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
The Progressive Radio News Hour - Progressive Radio Network
LETHALFORCE
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France, Britain to launch joint drone project: report
France, Britain to launch joint drone project
France and Britain are to launch a joint project to build air combat drones during a visit by Prime Minister David Cameron to Paris, newspaper Les Echos reported on Thursday.
Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will announce the project during a summit meeting on Friday, the newspaper quoted several sources as saying.
"The project will take the form of a joint letter of intent that will be non-binding but will open the door to the first preliminary studies," the business paper reported.
"Tens of millions of euros" will be allocated to getting the project off the ground, it said, and the goal to is to have a prototype drone ready by 2020.
The project hopes to avoid the "fratricidal European battle" that has opposed the Rafale fighter jet produced by France's Dassault and the UK-backed Eurofighter in bidding for warplane contracts, it said.
Dassault's Rafale this month won the right to be the sole bidder in a major contract to supply warplanes to India, beating out the Eurofighter consortium and sparking consternation in Britain.
Les Echos said the drone project would be a joint programme between Rafale and Britain's BAE systems, noting that it excluded pan-European aerospace and defence corporation EADS, which "will not be appreciated in Berlin".
France, Britain to launch joint drone project
France and Britain are to launch a joint project to build air combat drones during a visit by Prime Minister David Cameron to Paris, newspaper Les Echos reported on Thursday.
Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will announce the project during a summit meeting on Friday, the newspaper quoted several sources as saying.
"The project will take the form of a joint letter of intent that will be non-binding but will open the door to the first preliminary studies," the business paper reported.
"Tens of millions of euros" will be allocated to getting the project off the ground, it said, and the goal to is to have a prototype drone ready by 2020.
The project hopes to avoid the "fratricidal European battle" that has opposed the Rafale fighter jet produced by France's Dassault and the UK-backed Eurofighter in bidding for warplane contracts, it said.
Dassault's Rafale this month won the right to be the sole bidder in a major contract to supply warplanes to India, beating out the Eurofighter consortium and sparking consternation in Britain.
Les Echos said the drone project would be a joint programme between Rafale and Britain's BAE systems, noting that it excluded pan-European aerospace and defence corporation EADS, which "will not be appreciated in Berlin".
LETHALFORCE
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US drones monitor events in Syria: report
US drones monitor events in Syria
A "good number" of unmanned US military and intelligence drones are operating in the skies over Syria, monitoring the Syrian military's attacks against opposition forces and civilians, NBC News reported.
Citing unnamed US defense officials, the TV network said this surveillance was not in preparation for US military intervention.
However, the administration President Barack Obama hopes to use the overhead visual evidence and intercepts of Syrian government and military communications in an effort to make the case for a widespread international response, the report said.
NBC News said there has been some discussion among White House, State Deptartment and Pentagon officials about possible humanitarian missions in Syria.
But US officials fear those missions could not be carried out without endangering the people involved and would almost certainly draw the United States into a military role in Syria, the report noted.
At least 30 people were reported killed Friday as protests spread to several well-to-do neighbourhoods of the Syrian capital for the first time and security forces unleashed their heaviest pounding yet of the flashpoint central city of Homs.
US drones monitor events in Syria
A "good number" of unmanned US military and intelligence drones are operating in the skies over Syria, monitoring the Syrian military's attacks against opposition forces and civilians, NBC News reported.
Citing unnamed US defense officials, the TV network said this surveillance was not in preparation for US military intervention.
However, the administration President Barack Obama hopes to use the overhead visual evidence and intercepts of Syrian government and military communications in an effort to make the case for a widespread international response, the report said.
NBC News said there has been some discussion among White House, State Deptartment and Pentagon officials about possible humanitarian missions in Syria.
But US officials fear those missions could not be carried out without endangering the people involved and would almost certainly draw the United States into a military role in Syria, the report noted.
At least 30 people were reported killed Friday as protests spread to several well-to-do neighbourhoods of the Syrian capital for the first time and security forces unleashed their heaviest pounding yet of the flashpoint central city of Homs.
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LETHALFORCE
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Unmanned version of A-10 on way
Unmanned version of A-10 on way
Aurora Flight Sciences has been selected to work on a U.S. military project for an unmanned version of the A-10 close support aircraft.
Its selection as a team member in the Persistent Close Air Support program of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency was made by Raytheon, which is leading the effort.
Aurora, with extensive experience in robotic aerial vehicles, will be responsible for developing the demonstrator aircraft.
"Aurora's selection by Raytheon to develop critical air vehicle technologies for the DARPA PCAS program is a major step in our relationship, which began with the Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle and Loiter Attack Missile programs in the 1990s," said John Langford, Aurora's president and chief executive officer.
"We are looking forward to working closely with Raytheon on a wide range of unmanned systems technologies in the future."
For the PCAS program, Raytheon envisages development of technologies to reduce the timeline for close air support with "improved coordination among controllers, airborne sensors and weapon systems.
Other members of the PCAS team include Rockwell Collins and GE Aviation.
Unmanned version of A-10 on way
Aurora Flight Sciences has been selected to work on a U.S. military project for an unmanned version of the A-10 close support aircraft.
Its selection as a team member in the Persistent Close Air Support program of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency was made by Raytheon, which is leading the effort.
Aurora, with extensive experience in robotic aerial vehicles, will be responsible for developing the demonstrator aircraft.
"Aurora's selection by Raytheon to develop critical air vehicle technologies for the DARPA PCAS program is a major step in our relationship, which began with the Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle and Loiter Attack Missile programs in the 1990s," said John Langford, Aurora's president and chief executive officer.
"We are looking forward to working closely with Raytheon on a wide range of unmanned systems technologies in the future."
For the PCAS program, Raytheon envisages development of technologies to reduce the timeline for close air support with "improved coordination among controllers, airborne sensors and weapon systems.
Other members of the PCAS team include Rockwell Collins and GE Aviation.
LETHALFORCE
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Drone makers cashing in as war tactics evolve
Drone makers cashing in as war tactics evolve
They are deadly, hard to detect and fast becoming one of the most sought-after weapons in the air defence industry.
Global demand for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), better known as drones, is heating up as armed forces invest in new systems to boost their ability to carry out reconnaissance and strikes without putting soldiers' lives in danger.
Propelled by a rise in Asian defence budgets, annual global spending on UAVs is forecast to almost double from the current $5.9 billion to $11.3 billion over the next decade, according to US-based defence research firm Teal Group.
The Asia Pacific is the second largest buyer after the United States.
"Almost every country in the region is trying to get their hands on drones or develop their own ... Thailand, India, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Korea," said Jon Grevatt of IHS Jane's Defence Weekly.
Home to more than half the world's population, Asia also has some of the biggest potential flashpoints from North Korea, to the South China Sea, South Asia and Afghanistan.
"UAVs are necessary in this age when you want to win wars and at the same time you want to have less casualties," said Tommy Silberring, who heads the drone division at Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
IAI, which pioneered the development of UAV technology for the Israeli military in the 1970s, was one of several defence manufacturers showing off drones at last week's Singapore Airshow.
The use of drones rather than manned aircraft helps make countries participation in multilateral war efforts more palatable to the public, said Silberring, a former Israeli air force colonel.
"You really don't want to tell your people that you are giving the lives of your soldiers for another country," he told AFP at the air show.
Drones have played a crucial role in recent conflicts, with the United States relying on them to strike targets in the rugged tribal areas of Pakistan that are strongholds of Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives.
US drones were also used in the NATO-led intervention in Libya last year.
According to IAI, its Heron UAVs are used by 18 customers around the world, including Singapore's air force, which displayed its Heron 1 at the show.
The Heron TP -- the largest in the Israeli drone arsenal with the wingspan of a Boeing 737 passenger jet -- is purported to have a range of more than 7,400 kilometres (4,600 miles).
In the United States, homegrown manufacturers such as General Atomics and Northrop Grumman look set to benefit from the Pentagons recent plans to expand its current fleet of 7,494 drones by 30 percent.
According to a congressional report released in January, the US military is expected to spend nearly $32 billion on new UAVs over the next eight years.
"Over the next few years, we will definitely see an aggressive growth of unmanned systems being used by US forces around the world," said Commander Robert Moss, a regional director at the United States Office of Naval Research Global.
"There is a wide range of uses for unmanned systems, from surveillance work, gathering atmospheric data to direct combat strikes," he told AFP.
This burgeoning demand has spurred Asian manufacturers to enter the market, which has long been dominated by Israeli and US companies.
"We want to be in the unmanned arena but we are selective because there are already so many big players in the industry," said Patrick Choy, vice president of international marketing at ST Engineering, a Singapore-based defence manufacturer.
ST Engineering launched the Skyblade 360, the latest addition in a series of mini UAVs, at the airshow.
Its predecessor, the Skyblade III, is used by the Singapore Armed Forces to provide reconnaissance and surveillance for ground forces.
Choy emphasised that ST Engineering had no intention of competing with Israeli and US manufacturers to build large UAVs.
"We want to build a niche in the tactical area, where we are able to help small units with our UAV technology," he told AFP.
"Unless you are a global power, you cannot convince customers to buy big UAVs which require supporting technology like satellites".
India is similarly modest about its Rustom-1 drone, a model of which was on display at the trade fair.
"Our main priority is to enhance the current capability of the Rustom... we have no intentions of exporting it," said Parimal Kumar, a senior official from India's Defence Research and Development Organisation.
IAI's Silberring is unfazed by the nascent Asian drone manufacturers, and said demand for Israeli drones would remain high.
"You just cannot compete with us... we look 20 years ahead to make sure we have products in the market no one will have," he said.
Drone makers cashing in as war tactics evolve
They are deadly, hard to detect and fast becoming one of the most sought-after weapons in the air defence industry.
Global demand for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), better known as drones, is heating up as armed forces invest in new systems to boost their ability to carry out reconnaissance and strikes without putting soldiers' lives in danger.
Propelled by a rise in Asian defence budgets, annual global spending on UAVs is forecast to almost double from the current $5.9 billion to $11.3 billion over the next decade, according to US-based defence research firm Teal Group.
The Asia Pacific is the second largest buyer after the United States.
"Almost every country in the region is trying to get their hands on drones or develop their own ... Thailand, India, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Korea," said Jon Grevatt of IHS Jane's Defence Weekly.
Home to more than half the world's population, Asia also has some of the biggest potential flashpoints from North Korea, to the South China Sea, South Asia and Afghanistan.
"UAVs are necessary in this age when you want to win wars and at the same time you want to have less casualties," said Tommy Silberring, who heads the drone division at Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
IAI, which pioneered the development of UAV technology for the Israeli military in the 1970s, was one of several defence manufacturers showing off drones at last week's Singapore Airshow.
The use of drones rather than manned aircraft helps make countries participation in multilateral war efforts more palatable to the public, said Silberring, a former Israeli air force colonel.
"You really don't want to tell your people that you are giving the lives of your soldiers for another country," he told AFP at the air show.
Drones have played a crucial role in recent conflicts, with the United States relying on them to strike targets in the rugged tribal areas of Pakistan that are strongholds of Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives.
US drones were also used in the NATO-led intervention in Libya last year.
According to IAI, its Heron UAVs are used by 18 customers around the world, including Singapore's air force, which displayed its Heron 1 at the show.
The Heron TP -- the largest in the Israeli drone arsenal with the wingspan of a Boeing 737 passenger jet -- is purported to have a range of more than 7,400 kilometres (4,600 miles).
In the United States, homegrown manufacturers such as General Atomics and Northrop Grumman look set to benefit from the Pentagons recent plans to expand its current fleet of 7,494 drones by 30 percent.
According to a congressional report released in January, the US military is expected to spend nearly $32 billion on new UAVs over the next eight years.
"Over the next few years, we will definitely see an aggressive growth of unmanned systems being used by US forces around the world," said Commander Robert Moss, a regional director at the United States Office of Naval Research Global.
"There is a wide range of uses for unmanned systems, from surveillance work, gathering atmospheric data to direct combat strikes," he told AFP.
This burgeoning demand has spurred Asian manufacturers to enter the market, which has long been dominated by Israeli and US companies.
"We want to be in the unmanned arena but we are selective because there are already so many big players in the industry," said Patrick Choy, vice president of international marketing at ST Engineering, a Singapore-based defence manufacturer.
ST Engineering launched the Skyblade 360, the latest addition in a series of mini UAVs, at the airshow.
Its predecessor, the Skyblade III, is used by the Singapore Armed Forces to provide reconnaissance and surveillance for ground forces.
Choy emphasised that ST Engineering had no intention of competing with Israeli and US manufacturers to build large UAVs.
"We want to build a niche in the tactical area, where we are able to help small units with our UAV technology," he told AFP.
"Unless you are a global power, you cannot convince customers to buy big UAVs which require supporting technology like satellites".
India is similarly modest about its Rustom-1 drone, a model of which was on display at the trade fair.
"Our main priority is to enhance the current capability of the Rustom... we have no intentions of exporting it," said Parimal Kumar, a senior official from India's Defence Research and Development Organisation.
IAI's Silberring is unfazed by the nascent Asian drone manufacturers, and said demand for Israeli drones would remain high.
"You just cannot compete with us... we look 20 years ahead to make sure we have products in the market no one will have," he said.
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interesting read:
10 Things You Didn't Know About Drones - By Micah Zenko | Foreign Policy
1. The first armed drones were created to get Osama bin Laden.
In 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton's administration shut down an operation to kill the al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan with cruise missiles, given collateral damage estimates of 300 casualties and only 50 percent confidence in the intelligence. As the 9/11 Commission noted, "After this episode Pentagon planners intensified efforts to find a more precise alternative." In 2000 and 2001, the U.S. Air Force struggled to reconfigure a Hellfire anti-tank missile to fit onto a Predator surveillance drone. Meeting one week before the 9/11 attacks, the National Security Council agreed that the armed Predator was not ready to be operationally deployed. The first known killing by armed drones occurred in November 2001, when a Predator targeted Mohammed Atef, a top al Qaeda military commander, in Afghanistan.
2. So far, drones tend to crash.
On Dec. 4, an RQ-170 Sentinel surveillance drone crashed in Iran; a U.S. official involved in the program blamed a lost data link and another unspecific malfunction. Two weeks later, an unarmed Reaper drone crashed at the end of a runway in the Seychelles. "This should not be a surprise," a defense official told Aviation Week & Space Technology, saying the United States had already lost more than 50 drones. As of July 2010, the Air Force had identified 79 drone accidents costing at least $1 million each. The primary reasons for the crashes: bad weather, loss or disruption of communications links, and "human error factors," according to the Air Force. As Lt. Gen. David Deptula, former Air Force deputy chief of staff for intelligence, has noted with refreshing honesty, "Some of the [drones] that we have today, you put in a high-threat environment, and they'll start falling from the sky like rain."
3. Drones are coming to America.
Worried about the militarization of U.S. airspace by unmanned aerial vehicles? As of October, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had reportedly issued 285 active certificates for 85 users, covering 82 drone types. The FAA has refused to say who received the clearances, but it was estimated over a year ago that 35 percent were held by the Pentagon, 11 percent by NASA, and 5 percent by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). And it's growing. U.S. Customs and Border Protection already operates eight Predator drones. Under pressure from the congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus -- yes, there's already a drone lobby, with 50 members -- two additional Predators were sent to Texas in the fall, though a DHS official noted: "We didn't ask for them." Last June, a Predator drone intended to patrol the U.S.-Canada border helped locate three suspected cattle rustlers in North Dakota in what was the first reported use of a drone to arrest U.S. citizens.
4. The scope of U.S. military drone missions is expanding"¦
Drones have come a long way in little more than a decade of military use in strike operations. Five-pound backpack drones are now used by infantry soldiers for tactical surveillance and will soon be deployed for what their manufacturer calls "magic bullet" kamikaze missions. Special operations forces have developed a warhead fired from a Predator drone that can knock down doors. K-Max helicopter drones transport supplies to troops at forward operating bases in Afghanistan. Balloons unleash Tempest drones, which then send out smaller surveillance drones -- called Cicadas -- that glide to the ground to collect data. And now the U.S. State Department is flying a small fleet of surveillance drones over Iraq to protect the U.S. Embassy there. Bottom line: More and more drones have been rushed into service, and their use and application by the U.S. military is seemingly infinite.
5. "¦But not as fast as civilian uses.
Safety inspectors used drones at Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to survey the damage after last year's tsunami. Archaeologists in Russia are using small drones with infrared cameras to construct a 3-D model of ancient burial mounds. Environmental activists use the Osprey drone to track and monitor Japanese whaling ships. Photographers are developing a celebrity-seeking paparazzi drone. GALE drones will soon fly into hurricanes to more accurately monitor a storm's strength. And Boeing engineers have joined forces with MIT students to build an iPhone app that can control a drone from up to 3,000 miles away. Last summer, using a laser 3-D printer, University of Southampton engineers built a nearly silent drone that can be assembled by hand in minutes.
6. Most military drones don't bomb.
Although decapitation strikes may get all the headlines, the vast majority of the time, drones are used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance -- what the military calls ISR. The U.S. Navy's first high-altitude drone can relay black-and-white photos covering roughly half the Persian Gulf; the Global Hawk's advanced radars make detailed images of the Earth and attempt to sniff out chemical or biological agents for telltale signs of weapons of mass destruction. Soon, the Gorgon Stare drone will "be looking at a whole city, so there will be no way for the adversary to know what we're looking at, and we can see everything," according to Maj. Gen. James O. Poss.
7. Attack drones require more boots on the ground.
Most unmanned aircraft flown by the U.S. military require not just a ground-based "pilot," but also a platoon of surveillance analysts (approximately 19 per drone), sensor operators, and a maintenance crew. Some 168 people are required to keep a Predator drone aloft -- and 180 for its larger cousin, the Reaper -- compared with roughly 100 people for an F-16 fighter jet. To keep up with the demand, the Air Force has trained more drone operators than pilots for the past two years. The upside is that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, drones "are usually less expensive than manned aircraft" ($15 million for a Global Hawk versus about $55 million for a new F-16), though costly sensors and excessive crashes can negate the difference.
8. Drones are becoming a lethal weapon of choice, but nobody's in charge.
Over the past decade, there have been some 300 drone strikes outside the battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. Of these attacks, 95 percent occurred in Pakistan, with the rest in Yemen and Somalia; cumulatively, they have killed more than 2,000 suspected militants and an unknown number of civilians. Although U.S. President Barack Obama recently acknowledged that "a lot of these strikes" have been in Pakistan's tribal areas, who can be targeted and under what authority can only be guessed from a few speeches and statements by anonymous U.S. officials. There are believed to be multiple drone-target "kill lists" among government agencies. The 2011 book Top Secret America revealed "three separate 'kill lists' of individuals" kept by the National Security Council, the CIA, and the military's Joint Special Operations Command. In Yemen, the Pentagon is the lead executive authority for some drone strikes (which are reported to the congressional armed services committees), while the CIA is in charge for others (reported to the intelligence committees). As for the Obama administration's claimed power to assassinate U.S. citizens, such as Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, the Justice Department refuses to declassify the memo that provided the legal authority to kill him with a drone. So, although 85 percent of non-battlefield drone strikes have occurred under Obama, we have little understanding of their use.
9. Other countries are catching up to the United States.
As with most military programs, the United States is far and away the leader in developing drone technology, and the country is projected to account for 77 percent of drone R&D and 69 percent of procurement in the coming decade. Nevertheless, estimates of how many other countries have at least some drone capability now range from 44 to 70, for an estimated 680 drone programs around the world, up greatly from 195 in 2005. China is escalating its drone program, with at least 25 types of systems in development. Iran has also touted its program, including the armed "Ambassador of Death" drone, which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled by declaring: "Its main message is peace and friendship."
10. The drone future is already here.
The Pentagon now boasts a fleet of approximately 7,500 drones, up from just 50 a decade ago. According to a congressional report, "manned aircraft have gone from 95% of all [Defense Department] aircraft in 2005 to 69% today." Over the next decade, the Pentagon expects the number of "multirole" drones -- ones that can both spy and strike -- to nearly quadruple, to 536. In 2011, the Teal Group consulting firm estimated that worldwide spending on unmanned aerial vehicles will nearly double over the next decade from $5.9 billion to $11.3 billion annually. In the future, drones are projected to: hover just behind infantry soldiers to watch their backs; carry airborne lasers to intercept ballistic missiles; perform aerial refueling; and conduct long-range strategic bombing missions. Given that drones will become cheaper, smaller, faster, stealthier, more lethal, and more autonomous, it is harder to imagine what they won't do than what they will. Whatever limits drones face will be imposed by us humans -- not technology.
10 Things You Didn't Know About Drones - By Micah Zenko | Foreign Policy
1. The first armed drones were created to get Osama bin Laden.
In 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton's administration shut down an operation to kill the al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan with cruise missiles, given collateral damage estimates of 300 casualties and only 50 percent confidence in the intelligence. As the 9/11 Commission noted, "After this episode Pentagon planners intensified efforts to find a more precise alternative." In 2000 and 2001, the U.S. Air Force struggled to reconfigure a Hellfire anti-tank missile to fit onto a Predator surveillance drone. Meeting one week before the 9/11 attacks, the National Security Council agreed that the armed Predator was not ready to be operationally deployed. The first known killing by armed drones occurred in November 2001, when a Predator targeted Mohammed Atef, a top al Qaeda military commander, in Afghanistan.
2. So far, drones tend to crash.
On Dec. 4, an RQ-170 Sentinel surveillance drone crashed in Iran; a U.S. official involved in the program blamed a lost data link and another unspecific malfunction. Two weeks later, an unarmed Reaper drone crashed at the end of a runway in the Seychelles. "This should not be a surprise," a defense official told Aviation Week & Space Technology, saying the United States had already lost more than 50 drones. As of July 2010, the Air Force had identified 79 drone accidents costing at least $1 million each. The primary reasons for the crashes: bad weather, loss or disruption of communications links, and "human error factors," according to the Air Force. As Lt. Gen. David Deptula, former Air Force deputy chief of staff for intelligence, has noted with refreshing honesty, "Some of the [drones] that we have today, you put in a high-threat environment, and they'll start falling from the sky like rain."
3. Drones are coming to America.
Worried about the militarization of U.S. airspace by unmanned aerial vehicles? As of October, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had reportedly issued 285 active certificates for 85 users, covering 82 drone types. The FAA has refused to say who received the clearances, but it was estimated over a year ago that 35 percent were held by the Pentagon, 11 percent by NASA, and 5 percent by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). And it's growing. U.S. Customs and Border Protection already operates eight Predator drones. Under pressure from the congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus -- yes, there's already a drone lobby, with 50 members -- two additional Predators were sent to Texas in the fall, though a DHS official noted: "We didn't ask for them." Last June, a Predator drone intended to patrol the U.S.-Canada border helped locate three suspected cattle rustlers in North Dakota in what was the first reported use of a drone to arrest U.S. citizens.
4. The scope of U.S. military drone missions is expanding"¦
Drones have come a long way in little more than a decade of military use in strike operations. Five-pound backpack drones are now used by infantry soldiers for tactical surveillance and will soon be deployed for what their manufacturer calls "magic bullet" kamikaze missions. Special operations forces have developed a warhead fired from a Predator drone that can knock down doors. K-Max helicopter drones transport supplies to troops at forward operating bases in Afghanistan. Balloons unleash Tempest drones, which then send out smaller surveillance drones -- called Cicadas -- that glide to the ground to collect data. And now the U.S. State Department is flying a small fleet of surveillance drones over Iraq to protect the U.S. Embassy there. Bottom line: More and more drones have been rushed into service, and their use and application by the U.S. military is seemingly infinite.
5. "¦But not as fast as civilian uses.
Safety inspectors used drones at Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to survey the damage after last year's tsunami. Archaeologists in Russia are using small drones with infrared cameras to construct a 3-D model of ancient burial mounds. Environmental activists use the Osprey drone to track and monitor Japanese whaling ships. Photographers are developing a celebrity-seeking paparazzi drone. GALE drones will soon fly into hurricanes to more accurately monitor a storm's strength. And Boeing engineers have joined forces with MIT students to build an iPhone app that can control a drone from up to 3,000 miles away. Last summer, using a laser 3-D printer, University of Southampton engineers built a nearly silent drone that can be assembled by hand in minutes.
6. Most military drones don't bomb.
Although decapitation strikes may get all the headlines, the vast majority of the time, drones are used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance -- what the military calls ISR. The U.S. Navy's first high-altitude drone can relay black-and-white photos covering roughly half the Persian Gulf; the Global Hawk's advanced radars make detailed images of the Earth and attempt to sniff out chemical or biological agents for telltale signs of weapons of mass destruction. Soon, the Gorgon Stare drone will "be looking at a whole city, so there will be no way for the adversary to know what we're looking at, and we can see everything," according to Maj. Gen. James O. Poss.
7. Attack drones require more boots on the ground.
Most unmanned aircraft flown by the U.S. military require not just a ground-based "pilot," but also a platoon of surveillance analysts (approximately 19 per drone), sensor operators, and a maintenance crew. Some 168 people are required to keep a Predator drone aloft -- and 180 for its larger cousin, the Reaper -- compared with roughly 100 people for an F-16 fighter jet. To keep up with the demand, the Air Force has trained more drone operators than pilots for the past two years. The upside is that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, drones "are usually less expensive than manned aircraft" ($15 million for a Global Hawk versus about $55 million for a new F-16), though costly sensors and excessive crashes can negate the difference.
8. Drones are becoming a lethal weapon of choice, but nobody's in charge.
Over the past decade, there have been some 300 drone strikes outside the battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. Of these attacks, 95 percent occurred in Pakistan, with the rest in Yemen and Somalia; cumulatively, they have killed more than 2,000 suspected militants and an unknown number of civilians. Although U.S. President Barack Obama recently acknowledged that "a lot of these strikes" have been in Pakistan's tribal areas, who can be targeted and under what authority can only be guessed from a few speeches and statements by anonymous U.S. officials. There are believed to be multiple drone-target "kill lists" among government agencies. The 2011 book Top Secret America revealed "three separate 'kill lists' of individuals" kept by the National Security Council, the CIA, and the military's Joint Special Operations Command. In Yemen, the Pentagon is the lead executive authority for some drone strikes (which are reported to the congressional armed services committees), while the CIA is in charge for others (reported to the intelligence committees). As for the Obama administration's claimed power to assassinate U.S. citizens, such as Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, the Justice Department refuses to declassify the memo that provided the legal authority to kill him with a drone. So, although 85 percent of non-battlefield drone strikes have occurred under Obama, we have little understanding of their use.
9. Other countries are catching up to the United States.
As with most military programs, the United States is far and away the leader in developing drone technology, and the country is projected to account for 77 percent of drone R&D and 69 percent of procurement in the coming decade. Nevertheless, estimates of how many other countries have at least some drone capability now range from 44 to 70, for an estimated 680 drone programs around the world, up greatly from 195 in 2005. China is escalating its drone program, with at least 25 types of systems in development. Iran has also touted its program, including the armed "Ambassador of Death" drone, which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled by declaring: "Its main message is peace and friendship."
10. The drone future is already here.
The Pentagon now boasts a fleet of approximately 7,500 drones, up from just 50 a decade ago. According to a congressional report, "manned aircraft have gone from 95% of all [Defense Department] aircraft in 2005 to 69% today." Over the next decade, the Pentagon expects the number of "multirole" drones -- ones that can both spy and strike -- to nearly quadruple, to 536. In 2011, the Teal Group consulting firm estimated that worldwide spending on unmanned aerial vehicles will nearly double over the next decade from $5.9 billion to $11.3 billion annually. In the future, drones are projected to: hover just behind infantry soldiers to watch their backs; carry airborne lasers to intercept ballistic missiles; perform aerial refueling; and conduct long-range strategic bombing missions. Given that drones will become cheaper, smaller, faster, stealthier, more lethal, and more autonomous, it is harder to imagine what they won't do than what they will. Whatever limits drones face will be imposed by us humans -- not technology.
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Drones are slow, Vulnerable to latest EW suits as these are not pre-programmed, they carry less payload and there range is limited..
Drones are very good in CT ops and use in specialized SEAD tactics..
Drones are very good in CT ops and use in specialized SEAD tactics..
SPIEZ
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Payload, range and speed can be increased.
If speed is increased than tracking the UAV's would become comparitively harder.
Althouggh pre-programming can be a disadvantage there are many advantages associated with it. In flight control would be one, which would bring it to a level of manually controlled aircrafts.
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Not as a cruise missile, It can be tracked if it fly in higher or medium altitudes, A online UAV can be hacked there are possibilities but pre-program have no mean to be hacked...
Drones have there place in a war and Cruise missile have there, Both play different roles..
SPIEZ
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Modern cruise missiles have this ability they can be remotely controlled for eg the tomahawk. They relay data back and forth. One sahouldn't worry about hacking, there are various things that can be done to prevent if not mitigate it.
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Yes, it does but not continues...
There are counter measures and Counter-Countermeasure suits, So both are used in different ways..
JAISWAL
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The Imperial Eagle has landed
.
.
Developed by the city-based Aeronautical Development Establishment, the 2.3 kg light-weight, high-endurance UAV has created a flutter in the defence circle. Officials have already made a detailed presentation to the high-profile NSG
The next big thing in the Indian army — the lightweight, high-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) called Imperial Eagle — has its roots in Bangalore. Developed by city-based Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a unit of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Imperial Eagle will provide our soldiers with an eye in the sky at a time when UAVs are being hailed the stars in major operations, including in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As many as 10 scientists have been working on the project at ADE for the last one year.
Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, V S Chandrasekhar, director and programme director (MICAV) of ADE, said, "IE is a completely indigenous product except for its thermal camera. In fact, the software used in the camera has been developed in Bangalore and can function even during night by providing footage of the enemy. This mini UAV can be used for surveillance along the border and also for internal security. It is especially useful in places where it is challenging for soldiers to keep a vigil on the enemy."
In keeping with its name, the Imperial Eagle UAV is equipped with hunter's eye that can capture the enemy position day and night, irrespective of the weather. The five-feet long UAV weighing just 2.3 kg can capture the image of anything within a 10-km radius through its high definition infrared-enabled camera and transmit images continuously for almost an hour to the ground station. With the fixed wings measuring 1,600 mm, the UAV can fly at 90 km per hour.
The Imperial Eagle has already been successfully tested at Pathankot, the police academy in Hyderabad, Indian Army's Northern Command in Jammu and Kashmir, and on the outskirts of Bangalore. In the coming months, the Imperial Eagle will be tested over the terrain of Chhattisgarh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Autonomous functioning
"The major advantage of the vehicle," said Chandrasekhar, "is that it functions on autopilot." Its orientation can be controlled using dedicated real-time operating system (RTOS).
Further, the UAV can be tracked using Automatic Gain Control- or GPS-based systems. Patrolling across the target area, the UAV will send images day and night. Zooming in over the enemy area, the UAV can carry a payload of about 250 gms and has an accuracy of 1 degree.
Its unique features have already caught the attention of several premier institutions and paramilitary wings. National Security Guard (NSG), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), The National Institute of Disaster Management and home department of several states have shown interest in procuring the vehicle. ADE's senior officers have already made a detailed presentation to NSG officials.
"We hope these agencies will buy the vehicle," Chandrasekhar added.
The ADE had earlier launched Nishant, a multimission UAV which can be used for surveillance in the battlefield, target tracking and localisation.
Nishant weighed around 375 kg with a length of 4.63m and is capable of flying at a speed of 125 to 150 km per hour.
This apart, ADE had also developed Rustom 1, yet another UAV which is part of the Indian Army. Like Imperial Eagle, Rustom too can perform day and night and can take off on conventional runways with the help of an external runway.
The department is also planning to spend Rs 40-50 crore on developing Rustom-2.
What's in a name?
Even though weapons and defence vehicles in India are often given Sanskrit names, Imperial Eagle is perhaps the first to have an English one. "This UAV functions like an eagle and targets specific ground areas by flying at greater heights. The word Imperial indicates royalty," Chandrasekhar explained.
Tech chart
Wing span : 1600mm
Length : 1200 mm
All up weight : 2.3 kg
Range : 10 km
Endurance : 60 minutes
Speed : 40-90 km/hr
Altitude : 30-300 m AGL
Ceiling : 14,000 ft from MSL
Propulsion : BLDC Motor
Launch : Hand-launched
Recovery : Soft belly landing
Navigation : Fully autonomous.
.
.
Source-- The Imperial Eagle has landed
.
.
Developed by the city-based Aeronautical Development Establishment, the 2.3 kg light-weight, high-endurance UAV has created a flutter in the defence circle. Officials have already made a detailed presentation to the high-profile NSG
The next big thing in the Indian army — the lightweight, high-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) called Imperial Eagle — has its roots in Bangalore. Developed by city-based Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a unit of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Imperial Eagle will provide our soldiers with an eye in the sky at a time when UAVs are being hailed the stars in major operations, including in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As many as 10 scientists have been working on the project at ADE for the last one year.
Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, V S Chandrasekhar, director and programme director (MICAV) of ADE, said, "IE is a completely indigenous product except for its thermal camera. In fact, the software used in the camera has been developed in Bangalore and can function even during night by providing footage of the enemy. This mini UAV can be used for surveillance along the border and also for internal security. It is especially useful in places where it is challenging for soldiers to keep a vigil on the enemy."
In keeping with its name, the Imperial Eagle UAV is equipped with hunter's eye that can capture the enemy position day and night, irrespective of the weather. The five-feet long UAV weighing just 2.3 kg can capture the image of anything within a 10-km radius through its high definition infrared-enabled camera and transmit images continuously for almost an hour to the ground station. With the fixed wings measuring 1,600 mm, the UAV can fly at 90 km per hour.
The Imperial Eagle has already been successfully tested at Pathankot, the police academy in Hyderabad, Indian Army's Northern Command in Jammu and Kashmir, and on the outskirts of Bangalore. In the coming months, the Imperial Eagle will be tested over the terrain of Chhattisgarh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Autonomous functioning
"The major advantage of the vehicle," said Chandrasekhar, "is that it functions on autopilot." Its orientation can be controlled using dedicated real-time operating system (RTOS).
Further, the UAV can be tracked using Automatic Gain Control- or GPS-based systems. Patrolling across the target area, the UAV will send images day and night. Zooming in over the enemy area, the UAV can carry a payload of about 250 gms and has an accuracy of 1 degree.
Its unique features have already caught the attention of several premier institutions and paramilitary wings. National Security Guard (NSG), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), The National Institute of Disaster Management and home department of several states have shown interest in procuring the vehicle. ADE's senior officers have already made a detailed presentation to NSG officials.
"We hope these agencies will buy the vehicle," Chandrasekhar added.
The ADE had earlier launched Nishant, a multimission UAV which can be used for surveillance in the battlefield, target tracking and localisation.
Nishant weighed around 375 kg with a length of 4.63m and is capable of flying at a speed of 125 to 150 km per hour.
This apart, ADE had also developed Rustom 1, yet another UAV which is part of the Indian Army. Like Imperial Eagle, Rustom too can perform day and night and can take off on conventional runways with the help of an external runway.
The department is also planning to spend Rs 40-50 crore on developing Rustom-2.
What's in a name?
Even though weapons and defence vehicles in India are often given Sanskrit names, Imperial Eagle is perhaps the first to have an English one. "This UAV functions like an eagle and targets specific ground areas by flying at greater heights. The word Imperial indicates royalty," Chandrasekhar explained.
Tech chart
Wing span : 1600mm
Length : 1200 mm
All up weight : 2.3 kg
Range : 10 km
Endurance : 60 minutes
Speed : 40-90 km/hr
Altitude : 30-300 m AGL
Ceiling : 14,000 ft from MSL
Propulsion : BLDC Motor
Launch : Hand-launched
Recovery : Soft belly landing
Navigation : Fully autonomous.
.
.
Source-- The Imperial Eagle has landed
H.A.
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Welcome to Autonomous Agile Aerial Robots i.e. flying robots that can move like anything. Vijay Kumar, a professor at University of Pennsylvania, makes robots related to unmanned airplanes. But those are big and heavy and aren't autonomous — they need humans to pilot them.
The robots he works with are tiny. He shows one built like a cross, with four rotors, each on an end of the cross pointed straight up. Independent control of the rotors, in all directions plus yaw, gives exquisite control.
The advantage of being small is tremendous: The smaller a robot, the quicker it can turn and maneuver. The result is amazing. He shows four videos of the robots doing flips, pirouettes, and rolls.
These robots are far more than novelties. They can be first responders in disasters. They can help with construction, or cooporate with other robots to move large objects. They can also do search and rescue — or mapping nuclear radiation levels after a nuclear accident.
Dynamics of the quadrotor is defined by mathematics in twelve-dimensional space. But there is a mathematical trick to make it tractable — and it can be done in a fraction of a second, even with moving obstacles. The result is breathtaking — a flying robot dodging moving Hula hoops in a scene that, if it were in a movie we'd all assume it took months to plan and film, but it being done in real-time.
[video=youtube_share;YQIMGV5vtd4]http://youtu.be/YQIMGV5vtd4[/video]
H.A.
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THEY ARE FUNNY, THEY ARE CUTE, THEY ARE DANGEROUS.
Remember those crazy micro-UAVs we showed you flying in formation? You know, the quad-copters developed by the University of Pennsylvania's General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) lab that are at once cool to watch and terrifying since they'll one day be able to spy on anyone and even kamikaze into targets!
Well, here are those same little drones showing us just how creepy-cool they can be. The video below shows them playing the James Bond theme song. Seriously.
Remember those crazy micro-UAVs we showed you flying in formation? You know, the quad-copters developed by the University of Pennsylvania's General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) lab that are at once cool to watch and terrifying since they'll one day be able to spy on anyone and even kamikaze into targets!
Well, here are those same little drones showing us just how creepy-cool they can be. The video below shows them playing the James Bond theme song. Seriously.
Last edited by a moderator:
LETHALFORCE
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- 48,929
Drones may be controlled by gestures
Drones may be controlled by gestures
Drone aircraft taxiing on a runway may someday be controlled by ground personnel using just standard gestures, U.S. researchers say.
Drones can already land autonomously on runway or aircraft carrier flight decks, but humans control them during taxiing.
With piloted aircraft, navy flight-deck personnel use a set of hand gestures to instruct them in operations like cutting their engines, to, opening weapon bay doors or moving to a refueling bay.
To see if these gestures could be recognized by a computer on a drone, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology wrote an algorithm to analyze video clips of a person performing flight-deck gestures.
The system recorded and analyzed body, arm, wrist, hand and finger positions and was able to recognize a flight-deck command gesture 76 percent of the time, NewScientist.com reported Thursday.
The researchers said they are working to improve those recognition levels.
Those in the drone industry said they're impressed.
"I can't see why this wouldn't work ultimately," said Peter van Blyenburgh, head of UVS International, a trade group involved in pilotless drone aircraft.
"The gestures are clearly defined -- an image sensor should be able to pick them up."
Drones may be controlled by gestures
Drone aircraft taxiing on a runway may someday be controlled by ground personnel using just standard gestures, U.S. researchers say.
Drones can already land autonomously on runway or aircraft carrier flight decks, but humans control them during taxiing.
With piloted aircraft, navy flight-deck personnel use a set of hand gestures to instruct them in operations like cutting their engines, to, opening weapon bay doors or moving to a refueling bay.
To see if these gestures could be recognized by a computer on a drone, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology wrote an algorithm to analyze video clips of a person performing flight-deck gestures.
The system recorded and analyzed body, arm, wrist, hand and finger positions and was able to recognize a flight-deck command gesture 76 percent of the time, NewScientist.com reported Thursday.
The researchers said they are working to improve those recognition levels.
Those in the drone industry said they're impressed.
"I can't see why this wouldn't work ultimately," said Peter van Blyenburgh, head of UVS International, a trade group involved in pilotless drone aircraft.
"The gestures are clearly defined -- an image sensor should be able to pick them up."
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