Lockheed Martin announces plans for SR-72 hypersonic spy drone

Plans for the SR-72 drone were first unveiled Friday in an Aviation Week article which revealed that Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works advanced development program has drafted plans for a plane that could fly as fast as Mach 6 - twice the speed of the Blackbird. Aircraft experts and military aficionados have cause to rejoice now that Lockheed Martin has debuted the SR-72 unmanned spy plane, the long-awaited successor to the SR-71 Blackbird and potentially the first hypersonic craft to enter service.

The SR-72 would have the ability to gather intelligence, conduct surveillance and reconnaissance, and launch combat strikes at an unprecedented speed. The plane is designed to fill what is considered in military circles to be a gap in capabilities between the spy satellites orbiting Earth and the manned and unmanned technology meant to replace the SR-71. 

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Navy’s new Fire Scout unmanned helicopter takes its first flight

NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, Pt. Mugu, Calif. – The Navy’s newest variant of the Fire Scout unmanned helicopter completed its first day of flying Oct. 31 at Naval Base Ventura County at Point Mugu.

At 12:05 p.m. PDT, the MQ-8C Fire Scout took off and flew for seven minutes in restricted airspace to validate the autonomous control systems. The second flight that took off at 2:39 p.m. was also flown in a pattern around the airfield, reaching an altitude of 500 feet.

The MQ-8C air vehicle upgrade will provide longer endurance, range and greater payload capability than the MQ-8B, which is currently operating aboard USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58).

The MQ-8C is a larger air vehicle, has a range of 150 nautical miles and a payload capacity of more than 700 pounds.

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DARPA developing drone-mounted lasers to shoot down missiles

“The focus of the Endurance effort...will be on miniaturizing component technologies, developing high-precision target tracking, identification, and lightweight agile beam control to support target engagement. The program will also focus on the phenomenology of laser-target interaction and associated threat vulnerabilities,” DARPA says.

“In other words,” as Motherboard wrote of the project, “DARPA hopes that drone-mounted lasers will soon be able to shoot missiles out of the sky.”

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‘Naming the Dead’: New project lists people killed by US drones in Pakistan

US drone strikes that the CIA claims target only al-Qaeda militants have killed at least 400 civilians in Pakistan over the past decade. That’s according to “Naming the Dead,” a new project that aims to identify and collect data on those killed by drones.

The number of those killed in the tribal regions of northwest Pakistan by the US drones over the last nine years has been estimated at more than 2,500 people.  In most cases, there is little or no information available on the victims of the attacks. 

Naming the Dead is an initiative of the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ). The two-year-old project is aimed at tracking drone victims and “to increase the transparency around this conflict and inform the public debate.” ......

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St. Louis police chief wants drones to monitor city

“To help keep officers safe, to help keep the community safe. For monitoring public spaces – things like the upcoming Fair St. Louis [and] baseball games – for terrorists, suspicious activity,” St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson told KSDK.

“Criminals believe, and with some truth, that if they flee from police officers, officers will not pursue and they will ultimately elude capture,” Dotson wrote in hisMarch 25letter to the FAA. “If we are serious about crime reduction strategies, we must look to new technologies which help keep officers and the public safe and apprehend criminals.”...................

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VIDEO: German drone nearly hits 100-passenger Airbus jet – leaked video

Nine years ago a German drone nearly collided with a passenger plane over Afghanistan. The classified drone camera footage drew public attention after the German defense ministry scrapped a drone program for its lack of anti-collision technology.

Footage taken by an EMT Luna X-2000 reconnaissance drone as it passed mere meters under the left wing of an Airbus A300 passenger plane surfaced on YouTube several years ago. After the encounter, the drone was caught in the plane’s wake turbulence, lost control, and crashed over the Afghan capital Kabul, Der Spiegel reported.

The Ariana Afghan Airlines plane was carrying about 100 people on board, the magazine said. The manufacturer of the 40kg drone has claimed that the near-collision occurred after the passenger jet veered off-course without informing ground control. 

The video was leaked a week after German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière decided to scrap the $652 million EuroHawk program – meant to be a replacement for existing reconnaissance aircraft – including the Luna drones. EuroHawk is part of the NATO Global Hawk project, under which Germany was to buy Northrop Grumman RQ-4B drones and fit them with customized sensors.

Luna X 2000 UAV

However, the German military would not be able to certify the drone for use in European airspace without an anti-collision system, which would make the aircraft too expensive, de Maizière said, adding that even with such a system installed certification would not be guaranteed. German media also reported that EuroHawk suffered from technical problems and cost overruns.

Germany has bought one drone from the US manufacturer of the EuroHawk program, and was expected to purchase four more. If given the green light, the contract would be worth $1.3 billion.

Euro Hawk plane (AFP Photo / Armin Weigel Germany Out)

De Maizière came under criticism recently for the drone program after a leaked defense ministry report showed that the drone’s flaws were apparent as early as 15 month ago. Critics have accused the minister of failing to act and continuing to spend taxpayer money on the doomed project. De Maizière will appear before the German Parliament this week to report on the issue.

Advancements in unmanned weapons systems have become a global controversy in recent years. Militaries have praised the weapons for not endangering the lives of operators, and for being generally more cost-effective than older manned hardware.

But critics are expressing increasing concerns over the collateral damage caused by drone strikes, the vague legal justifications for their use, and the potential creation of weapons that would remove human judgment altogether from the decision to pursue a target.

There is also the perception that nations with advanced drone technology – specifically the US and Israel – have an unjust capability to enforce their policies on other countries.

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Navy considers 3D-printing future fleets of drones

Three-dimensional (3D) printers are quickly proving to be capable of creating just about anything out of little more than thin air, and that could be the military’s key to keeping an endless arsenal of drones at its disposal.

Just as 3D-printed organs, pizza and even firearms are being made with the post-modern machinery, the United States military is eyeing the up-and-coming technology as to further their upper-hand on the battlefield. Recently, a decorated member of the US Navy made an argument for adding unmanned aerial vehicles and even munitions to the list of items that can be made with little more than a well-equipped printer and a few clicks of a mouse. 

Hobbyists and engineering students have already toyed with the idea of using 3D printers to make unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, but the Navy could piggyback on that idea to ensure that UAVs made to withstand military operations are soon a reality. In an article published this month in the Armed Forces Journal, Lt. Cmdr. Michael Llenza discussed what could be next in the works for the Navy.

“For the Navy, the technology promises to shift inventory from the physical world to the digital one,” Llenza wrote. “Instead of actual parts, a ship might carry 3D printers and bags of various powdered ingredients, and simply download the design files needed to print items as necessary.” 

What kind of items? According to Llenza, just about anything. 

“Today’s printers are generally limited to printing parts made of just one material, and variance is a big issue,” he said. “But the development of multiple-material devices is well underway, and the technology is racing ahead.” ....................................

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Anti-drone devices for sale: military contractor claims to have counter-UAV technology

AFP Photo / John Moore

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Domestic drones will soon be soaring through the sky left and right, but a company in Oregon with ties to the US military is marketing a service that they say will make sure private property is safe from surveillance.

The team at one-month-old Domestic Drone Countermeasures doesn’t go into many specifics, but says they can offer services that will make sure Americans aren’t being spied on by hovering eyes in the sky.

“If there’s going to be private and commercial drones, there will be people who want to safeguard information,” DDC’s Tim Faucett told Portland’s KOIN 6 News last month. “Think about industrial espionage, or companies that don’t want drones around their facilities.”

Faucett is no stranger to working around factories — he also runs a company, Aplus Mobile, that has been recognized for providing “high quality computer and appliances” to defense contractors that deal with drones, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. As recently as November, in fact, Faucett said he was pleased his company’s “technology and workforce dedication continues to provide products that meet or exceed the expectations of our military.”

Now as the cousins of those military drones are being prepared for domestic use, Faucett is using his know-how to help make sure anti-drone advocates are safe and sheltered. He doesn’t say how DDC works exactly, but swears it’s a surefire solution.

"Drones will not fall from the sky, but they will be unable to complete their missions,” his new company claims.

By selling customers land-based boxes described as "non-offensive, non-combative and not destructive,”DCD says the super-sonic snooping powers of surveillance drones won’t be able to stand up.

“These countermeasures are highly effective and undefeatable by most current domestic drone technology, ”the company claims.

Speaking to US News & World Report this week, Faucett says his team of engineers know the ins and outs of the drone business, and could be the only option for some people right now as the risk of drone

"We understand the nature of the equipment drone manufacturers are using and understand how to counter their sensors," Faucett tells US News & World Report. "We're not going to be countering Predator drones that are shooting cruise missiles, but we're talking about local law enforcement drones and commercial ones that people might be using for spying."

And although domestic drones are expected to be widespread for a few more years in America, Faucett says concerns are already coming up.

"I was personally concerned and I think there's a lot of other people worried about this," he tells US News."We've already had many inquiries, a lot of people saying 'Hey, I don't want these drones looking at me.'"

The Federal Aviation Administration expects there to be roughly 30,000 drones in American airspace by the year 2020.

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L'Iran affirme avoir intercepté un drone étranger

Le Corps des gardiens de la révolution islamique (GRI) a intercepté samedi un drone étranger ayant violé l'espace aérien iranien, rapportent les médias locaux.

Samedi 23 février, les Gardiens ont entamé des manœuvres de trois jours dans l'est de l'Iran. Selon le commandant des brigades d'infanterie du Corps, le général Mohammad Pakpour, les exercices baptisés Grand Prophète 8 se déroulent à proximité des villes de Kerman et de Sirjan. Les exercices visent notamment à tester les nouvelles armes livrées aux GRI, à maintenir la préparation au combat et à améliorer les tactiques de "guerre asymétrique".

Lors des exercices, les spécialistes iraniens ont détecté des signaux de drones pénétrant dans l'espace aérien du pays. Les militaires ont réussi à prendre le contrôle du système de commande d'un des drones avant de le faire atterrir dans les environs de Sirjan. Dans le même temps, le Corps ne précise pas pour le moment à quel pays appartenait le drone intercepté.

Les autorités iraniennes ont à plusieurs reprises fait état de captures de drones américains. Selon le commandement des GRI, des copies des appareils interceptés sont utilisés par l'armée de la République islamique.

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USA : création d'un vêtement capable d’aveugler les drones

Le créateur new-yorkais Adam Harvey a développé un vêtement capable de masquer un homme du système de détection infra-rouge des appareils sans pilote. Dans un entretien accordé à La Voix de la Russie, Harvey a indiqué que ses nombreuses inventions sont suscitées par la vie en société, où l’homme est constamment surveillé par des caméras. Harvey a notamment mis au point une caméra qui réagit au flash et empêche les paparazzis de prendre des photos.

Les caméras des drones sont équipées de détecteurs à rayons infrarouges, émis par un être vivant. Le vêtement en tissu métallisé fabriqué par Adam Harvey bloque les rayons thermiques, « aveuglant » ainsi les drones. /L

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VIDEO: Medal of Droner: Pentagon award for deadly joystick warriors?

EXCLUSIF VIDEO: ARGUS, une caméra de surveillance à 1,8 Gigapixels

Must be seen: a Camera video on a Drone or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ! Scaring and amazing, you will know how we are tracked everyday by the government. 

Click here to see the video.