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$10M For Unmanned Aircraft That Can Perch Like a Bird

Posted by samzenpus on from the UAV-wanna-cracker dept.

coondoggie writes "Unmanned aircraft maker AeroVironment got an additional $5.4 million to further develop a diminutive aircraft that can fly into tight spaces undetected, perch and send live surveillance information to its handlers. Last Fall, AeroVironment, got $4.6 million initial funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop the Stealthy, Persistent, Perch and Stare Air Vehicle System (SP2S), which is being built on the company's one-pound, 29-inch wingspan battery-powered Wasp unmanned system."

11 of 176 comments (clear)

  1. I can see it now.. by illumastorm · · Score: 5, Funny

    Deploy: Lazorbeak. Mission: Scout Terrorists.

  2. Transformers did it first by Haoie · · Score: 5, Funny

    And their robot bird could turn into a cassette tape too. For easy playback, no less.

    How awesome was that?

    --
    If each mistake being made is a new one, then progress is being made.
    1. Re:Transformers did it first by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, but where is the Army going to get a Cassette Player these days?

  3. Quoth the SP2S by physburn · · Score: 5, Funny
    Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter, In there stepped a stealthy spy plane of the sci-fi days of yore. Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he; But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door - Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door - Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

    Quoth the SP2S, "nevermore" and nothing more.

  4. Ummm... by QuantumG · · Score: 5, Insightful

    at what point does the US military stop looking like a human defense force and start looking looking like alien invaders from a robot planet?

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
    1. Re:Ummm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      at what point does the US military stop looking like a... defense force and start looking looking like... invaders... ?

      Surely they still teach history in schools.

  5. How lifelike by syousef · · Score: 4, Funny

    Will it drop bird poop on your surveillance target? I mean how suspicious would a bird be if it didn't do that?

    --
    These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
    1. Re:How lifelike by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That actually has the potential to be a rather awkward issue, in the mid to long term, with small drones of this and similar flavors.

      Sooner or later, we'll want these things to do more than watch and report. Trouble is, ordinary kinetic weapons don't scale down all that well to applications where size and weight are at a real premium(gun small enough to fit in your pocket, sure, gun small enough to fit in a one pound aircraft with reasonable endurance, not so much). The only mechanisms that do scale down are toxins and pathogens, which are what pretty much all dangerous animals of that scale and smaller use.

      This is, of course, a problem; because chemical and biological weapons are almost certainly not a road we want to go down(even if you don't see using them as a problem, not disturbing the general norm of not using them is likely a good idea if only for your own sake); but they'll be the only thing that fits onboard, so it'll be that or nothing. I'm not overly confident that we'll choose wisely.

    2. Re:How lifelike by Molochi · · Score: 4, Interesting

      To expand on this, recoiless weapons like the jeep mounted ones scale down even further. A gyrojet round would work very well on a lightweight stealthbot and give it the lethal force of an infantryman with a rifle.

      --
      "The Adobe Updater must update itself before it can check for updates. Would you like to update the Adobe Updater now?"
    3. Re:How lifelike by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Funny

      White phosphorus powder mixed into some inert aqueous gel would make delayed action incediary bird turds. I can't think of anything awesomer.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  6. [verb] like a [animal] by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Upon reading the title, my first reaction was that there was a meeting that went something like

    • ... just send our spy planes to perch somewhere nearby and watch the terrorists.
    • Uh, sir, spy planes don't "perch".
    • Oh? Well, why not? I expect my spy planes to be able to perch. Like a bird. Somebody get on that.
    • Err... yes, sir!

    In the future I expect robots that can

    • slither like a snake
    • prowl like a lion
    • fly like an eagle