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Sanctions Or Not, Iranian Competition Yields Successful UAVs
garymortimer writes with word of the result from a high-tech student competition that doesn't come with sponsorship from DARPA or Mobil — far from it. Instead, the sponsors include "military and non-military organizations" within Iran. "In this competition, participants must provide a UAV equipped with a camera to search a 10 square kilometer area for at least 40 minutes to find 3 square meter marks on the ground with different English letters on them. Finding ground targets and reporting the geo location are criterion for choosing the contest winner." (This article updates another from last year, which gives some more details about the competition.)
The Drone Wars.
you'd have time to hack together UAV's from cellphones too.
(I wonder, does Iran have any motorsports?)
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
I can lay down some letters for the iranian drones - "f"..."u"..."c"...
I bet America's RQ-170 entry won.
This is one of the things the Middle East is very good at. The Portuguese have a word for it: Desenrascanco, which basically means the quick and dirty solution that's thrown together at the last minute and/or from what's on hand.
We saw this innovation in Libya, including some humorous military innovations such as the Bread Helmet and some far less humorous things like technicals, anti-air turrets, etc. Iran saw how effective the US's drones were and they want some of their own. They saw how effective stuff like DARPA is, so they do the same thing. Of course, Iran has the advantage of coming late to market so they can get all of the component parts much, much easier.
Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
Nice, the Iranian version of the Ansari X-Prize.
What people don't realize is that even with all the sanctions, hostility, and generally crazy behavior, Iran IS NOT Iraq or Afghanistan. Right now, American casualties are seen as unacceptable, which is leading our drive towards more drones. If we pick a fight with the Iranians, or let them pick a fight with the US, there will be American casualties. They have the ability to sink U.S. war ships. That have the support of Russia and China. Granted, they probably didn't ground that RQ-170, but that doesn't mean it isn't feasible in the near future.
We all know that quite a large chunk of the young adults in Iran don't like the current regime, but do you know what they like even less? The United States. Whether we start the fight or they do, it will cause Iran to solidify behind that common dislike of the U.S., and we will have a real fight on our hands.
Please stop hurting America -- Jon Stewart
but the Ansari family is Iranian.
Set your phasers on "funky"!
Hmm, let's see, don't squads trapped/downed behind enemy lines use similar 'flags' to signal their location to passing friendly aircraft? Could one of these UAVs be 'let loose' in an area known to contain a pinned down squad or downed aircraft, to try and identify the personnel's evac. attempts? Maybe I've been watching too much 24...
Did the English have an alphabet of its own before the Romans introduced the Latin one?
Despite sanctions? Dude, all the parts come from China. And China isn't part of the embargo. 10^2 km is a little wide for the smaller RC fliers out there, but for the larger ones that have a gas engine, it's completely do-able. That's retail store level technology. That hard part is flying it out of sight. Sensors, cameras, communications, all these little modules are made in china and are hobbyist stuff.
Long story short, it's impossible to embargo technology any more. It used to be that areospace technology was unatainable by anyone outside the industry. Serious engineers with serious companies with serious money. Now it's cheap. Kids are launching their own satellites.
Embargoes work for bulk goods, regulated and controlled substances, and money. And they usually work very badly. UAV technology doesn't fall under those categories.
Iranian drones that look for English letters, not farsi, English letters.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
the better it is? The numbers of atrocities by the USA is higher than that produced by Iran.
Or do you simply not care what happens to humans, *unless* they're gay?
I wish I could mod you "+1 Crazy"
I saw this a few weeks ago on an episode of Rocket City Rednecks. Not that I have anything against Iranians, but building a RC plane and fitting it with a camera and transmitter is something not challenging for a teenager, not to mention you can buy them on the internet (unencumbered by any military hardware restrictions) if you aren't even a hobbyist. What is the real story here? That those darn Iranians are "at it again"?
Please explain what are english letters, as far as I can remember it is the greco-roman alphabet
Wait, are you talking about America, Israel, or Iran? Because the last time I checked, the US and Israel seem to be among the top exporters of terrorism in the world.
this is not just a trait of those in one region of the world, though living in constant threat of your life from your government and those around you does tend to spur innovation. Even Slashdot has been replete with stories of people creating their own drones, shooting off rockets, and the like.
The difference comes down to scale and integration. Anyone can put up a model plane and find things they are supposed to find. Now, having the ability to do so in varied weather conditions, varied terrains, and coordinate the search and response with related elements is there the process bogs down. It bogs down because of dependencies, something this contest did not cover. (Besides there is a good number of small drones out there in the hands of many countries)
The are two messages here. First, smart and innovative exist world wide, and second the pace and spread of technology is outstripping the ability for many people to comprehend.
Well there is a third reason, Iran's government needs to impress. Impress their own people more than others btw.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
It is nice to see Iranian students getting into building model Airplanes... They are a lot of fun.
What The Fuck?!
My thoughts exactly.
I looked at the pictures, those are not UAVs but air models. We used to make and pilot such toys in grade 6. They are radio-controlled and require a clear line of sight and proximity for decent maneuvering. In any case, they are pretty expensive even for an amateur.
While people are joking and laughing at the Iranians for making their little toy models of the crashed drone, they are rapidly catching up in the UAS department. A UAV competition means they have realized that the amateurs and students are where the real innovation lies.
Fight the Mexican and Colombian cartels.
There you have a REAL, lethal problem.
Leave that fucked up Iranian alone and he will leave you alone.
OK, the Mexican and Colombian cartels are too close for your comfort. Maybe you are already under threat from them? I would be more scared of the cartels in my own country than some religious dude on the other side of two oceans.
Alfred Nobel saw dynamite as having a sort of mutually-assured-destruction effect (in addition to the civil engineering uses). Right idea, but a few decades too early.
More recently, this economic argument was part of Tom Friedman's _The World Is Flat_.
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
..doesn't come with sponsorship from DARPA or Mobil — far from it.
Eh, isn't the exact same, just the Iranian one?
.. the Mahdi! The 12th imam of the Shias, who's supposed to come out of a well in Qum, after the Iranians manage to accelarate the final judgement day, when Issa (the islamic version of Jesus) will accompany him and either kill all Christians or convert them to Islam.