Microdrone Spy Planes
glinden writes "BBC News is reporting that Israel is now deploying microdrone spy planes. These planes have a wingspan of 13 inches (33 cm), can be carried in a backpack, can be launched by a single soldier, and can even fly through windows. The next step in the drone wars?"
Snap a couple of pictures, turn on a dime then fly right back out?
Fly through the other open window on the other side of the building?
Fly through window, Then EXPLODE... Now That would be cool.
I'm glad I'm not an Israeli soldier... I'd be worried about over-winding the propeller and breaking the rubber band, or cutting my finger on the thing.
All joking aside, those things would be hot sellers here in the USA.
Ever wonder what's going on behind the ten-foot-high stone walls of that rich dude's house on the corner? Why, just sent your drone flying overhead.
Police departments would dig those things, too, and so would rescue units.
And don't get me started on what the tabloid paparazzi could do with those things.
You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
They can make this but they still can't make me a decent jetpack? I'm begining to think we will never get our flying shark we were promised
Model planes to me. Had one when I was a kid.
Fit in backpack. Was a little over a foot wide. Flew it into a window once...oh wait......
Don't park drunk, accidents cause people.
Preferably they'd eliminate the need for such things by reigning in their own hardline elements demands and work toward peace.
No justice, no peace.
Know justice, know peace.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
One (1) pair binoculars
One (1) pair night-vision goggles
One (1) Field emergency medical kit
One (1) M-4 rifle
Eighty (80) rounds 5.56 x 45mm NATO ammuniton
Ten (10) Meals Ready-to-eat
One (1) Mosquito micro-UAV
Ten (10) 30mm propulsion-grade rubber bands
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
This will most certainly be used in the ongoing struggle between Israel and Palestine. The last thing I want to see is either of those two groups become more efficient killers.
This is a spy plane, however. So maybe it will be used for intelligence to prevent violence. Or perhaps it will be used for intelligence to make waging war more effective.
Slashdot Syndrome: the sudden, extreme urge to correct someone in order to validate one's self.
*clears glasses* *looks again at the screen* i think thats enough of slashdot for me today...
Anyone with TechTV knows that these things have been around for quite some time (employed by the U.S. army). They say that they don't carry destructive payloads, just cameras and the like. The real question is, did they develop these models themselves or buy them from a U.S. company?
will we have 'spider' like cameras that can crawl along the ground and hide under rocks.
Will we have 'hawk' or 'eagle' gliders that attempt to take out these reconaissance gliders?
These look more like personal assassination drones than surveillance equipment. Visions of DUNE come to mind...
Quid festinatio swallonis est aetherfuga inonusti?
Africus aut Europaeus?
the remote cockroach that they had here. Of course, it ended up squashed by a shoe, but before that it got critical intel out. Just imagine a battlefield where you can't trust that the spiders and snakes, or arctic hares aren't working for the other guys!
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So what? Lots of spyware can be flown through Windows nowadays.
*rimshot*
Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me
NOVA ran a show a few months ago about the development and deployment of unmanned military aircraft. They have some interesting items here.
How long before somebody loads one of these with explosives and turns it into a guided grenade? It could be useful as a weapon against a small target of opportunity that doesn't merit a bomb run or cruise missile strike, as well as keeping the soldiers out of immediate harm's way.
I guess someone at the Israeli army was playing the mission where you fly the rc chopper into the construction site...
The perfect sig is a lot like silence, only louder
For those of you who, like me, are fascinated by these things, check out The UAV forum lotsa neat discussion, information, and links.
Objects in the blog are closer then they ap
Collective?
I think you mean "kibbutz".
As an avid R/C pilot for many years. I don't think using an aircraft with a 13 inch wingspan is going to do much good. These planes are extremely suceptable to wind. I have a 1/2a pilon racer with a 24" wingspan and an .049 engine. It can only be flown when the wind is less than 15 mph. In a place where mountains, hills and thermals abound I doubt their plane will be much use.
Btw the 1/2a racer has been clocked at over 90 mph. These things scream.
I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
As opposed to what? Strapping it to some poor 10 or 15 year old kid who thinks he's soon going to be having his way with 72 virgins?
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
These planes have a wingspan of 13 inches (33 cm)...can be launched by a single soldier
It must suck to be married. You can't even play with toy airplanes anymore.
There are slightly larger, but similar in concept, planes available in hobby shops. Such as this Firebird II.
Based on my experience flying that, I'm skeptical about a few things:
- Flying conditions: The Firebird is quite a bit larger than that plane, but any winds above 5-10MPH or so make it difficult to control. That little plane would get tossed around even easier.
- Duration: One hour flight time would be excellent, but with something so tiny I'm not sure how they pack that much battery power. My firebird is lucy to get 10 minutes of flying time before a recharge.
- Flying through windows? - That seems unlikely with one of these units. That level of accuracy is very difficult, and at the speeds you need to keep it flying, you would not have much time to maneuver this thing. Also, in the article they describe plotting a destination on a map - like a GPS controlled craft. How the hell would you fly through windows in that scenario.
Anyway, the hobby store variety of these things are a blast.. I highly recommend picking a couple up ( a couple because you're sure to crater it several times when first learning ).
Russians use something like this, too, against Chechen insurgents (calling them "rebels" is fundamentally wrong). Their drone is called "Pchela" it's quite a bit bigger and requires at least two soldiers to launch (from what I've seen on TV).
Here's some info:
A Pchela (remotely piloted reconnaissance drone that provides television surveillance of ground targets) weighs 130 kilograms (loaded), has an operational range of 110 to 150 kilometers, can fly at altitudes ranging from 100 meters to 3 kilometers, and cruises at speeds from 11- to 150 kilometers an hour. Combat-recorded range: 55 kilometers. Its flight endurance is 2 hours (it needs 20 liters of gasoline for this). Its power plant is piston plus two solid rockets takeoff boosters (power at 32hp). Onboard of the Russian drone are a video camera, a still camera, a mapping camera, and a secure radio. It uses a parachute for landing. Pchela is probably equal in capability to many Western UAV in the same class. However, it is a slower, tactical unmanned aerial vehicle than, for example, the Russian the 800-kilometer-per-hour Reis UAV.
More info available at:
http://ufo.psu.ru/eng/dagestan.html
It is odd to read people think this will reduce the number of casualties, especially "collateral damage".
This is not unlike some of the security discussions we've had here. Force people to have 4 passwords, and they'll write them on sticky-notes besides their screen, reducing security. Passwords are _supposed_ to make systems safer, but abuse them and they are counter-productive.
Drone technologies will completely change the strategy of conflict. One month before 9/11, a colleague and I predicted rc planes would be used against the White House. Ok, so we were off. But think about it: if the Israelis can use this, why couldn't the "terrorist" Palestinians? Imagine for a second what an rc plane/helicopter could do with non-conventional means...
Assymetrical warfare is used because one side has no chance at symmetrical -conventional- warfare. As this reinforces "full-spectrum dominance", it only increases the risk of terrorist attack.
I hope such drones are only used for reconnaissance, and not to carry out direct assassinations, causing another escalation.
In the long-term, we will need to make our conflict resolution systems more robust, so they don't degenerate so fast and with such bloody consequences. Another interesting thing to note is as war becomes more capital intensive, we can expect the rise of Conscientious Objection to Military Taxation
Information: "I want to be anthropomorphized"
According to international law (which I loathe to cite), it is not occupied by Israel.
It may well be the case that, according to certain readings of international law, Israel is not defined as occupying the areas where the Palestinians live.
In which case, the Palestinians are long-time residents of Israel and should be given full citizenship and voting rights. Israel is a democratic state, right?