Drones In Our Skies

[patric]

Domestic drones to be tested in Oklahoma
A simulated chase earlier this month was among the first test flights in a Department of Homeland Security program designed to evaluate the possible civilian use of so-called "Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems."


A Lockheed Martin Stalker XE drone flies over the countryside. For at least the next year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will be testing the possible use of drones in the civilian world from a facility near Fort Sill.

[patric]

NYPD's Demographics Unit?
At 1,750 feet, it wasnt a kids toy...

Drone came within 200 feet of airliner over New York
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/04/us/new-york-drone-report/index.html

[patric]

Unlike the toy quad-copters, the UAV's marketed to police fly at higher altitudes to avoid detection.
All that's missing in this arms-merchant video are bikini-clad women with AK-47s

and this one being tested in Texas is armed:

http://www.news9.com/story/21913188/oklahoma-researchers-test-drones-that-can-detect-guns

[Red Arrow]

Unlike the toy quad-copters, the UAV's marketed to police fly at higher altitudes to avoid detection.
All that's missing in this arms-merchant video are bikini-clad women with AK-47s

and this one being tested in Texas is armed:

An opportunity for someone to develop a SAM of suitable size and range.

[dbacks fan]

An opportunity for someone to develop a SAM of suitable size and range.

Estes Rockets?

[Red Arrow]

Estes Rockets?

You would need to be  r e a l l y lucky with an Estes Rocket to get a hit.  Might be fun to try though.  A quick escape from the launch site would be a must.

[patric]

You would need to be  r e a l l y lucky with an Estes Rocket to get a hit.  Might be fun to try though.  A quick escape from the launch site would be a must.
 

'specially if the target just took a picture of you...

[dbacks fan]

You would need to be  r e a l l y lucky with an Estes Rocket to get a hit.  Might be fun to try though.  A quick escape from the launch site would be a must.

Okay, I'll take a page from the US missile defense strategy of the 50's and 60's and have several rockets surrounding my "compound" and devise a way for them to have smoke and chaff payloads to create a screen that they might not be able to see through, and jam the communications of the drone if it is hovering. 

[Red Arrow]

Okay, I'll take a page from the US missile defense strategy of the 50's and 60's and have several rockets surrounding my "compound" and devise a way for them to have smoke and chaff payloads to create a screen that they might not be able to see through, and jam the communications of the drone if it is hovering. 

Now you're talking a real plan.

[Vashta Nerada]

Now you're talking a real plan.

They will declare their drones to be police officers, just as they do drug dogs, horses and those cute little bomb robots,
making it a felony to assault one.

Even discussing it might be felony endeavoring.

[dbacks fan]

They will declare their drones to be police officers, just as they do drug dogs, horses and those cute little bomb robots,
making it a felony to assault one.

Even discussing it might be felony endeavoring.

Well in that case, I will get my Joe Biden signature model double barrel shot gun and shoot it in the air and claim that they did not see my no trespassing sign and I thought it was an intruder trying to get in my house. 

[Vashta Nerada]

Oklahoma Developing Drones to Intercept Phone Calls, Locate Guns.


The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is testing a wide variety of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS) sensor platforms, including one that can determine whether individuals are armed or unarmed, for use by first responders and frontline homeland security professionals.

The testing is taking place at the Oklahoma Training Center for Unmanned Systems (OTC-UC), a unit of University Multispectral Laboratories (UML), a not-for-profit scientific institution operated for Oklahoma State University (OSU) by Anchor Dynamics, Inc. UML is a "Trusted Agent" for the federal government, technology developers and operators.

SUAS sensor platforms are being tested for use by "first responder and homeland security operational communities" that "can distinguish between unarmed and armed (exposed) personnel," as well as conducting detection, surveillance, tracking and laser designation of targets of interest at stand-off ranges, according to the RAPS Test Plan obtained by Homeland Security Today.
There's also a requirement to test SUAS sensors for how well they can capture crime and accident "scene data with still-frame, high definition photos."

The RAPS testing is being carried out at the Ft. Sill Army Post near Lawton, Okla. because DHS found the Army base "to be the optimal site to conduct RAPS test operations," the test plan said. "The ready availability of restricted airspace at Ft. Sill and its central location within the continental US make it logistically accessible and convenient to participating vendors." In addition, the test plan said "the Ft. Sill test sites offer good flying conditions year-round and provide a variety of terrain features needed for conducting search-and-rescue and other test scenarios."

Oklahoma has emerged as a leader in Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). DHS is working closely with the state on the RAPS program through Gov. Mary Fallin's Unmanned Aerial Systems Council, as the federal initiative is being conducted through OSU's University Multispectral Laboratories' advanced testing facility that's uniquely positioned within Ft. Sill's 200 square miles of restricted airspace.
"The strong support of the State of Oklahoma first responder community underscored the benefits of the Ft. Sill test site," DHS said.

"Aerospace represents a significant portion of our state economy and UAS is expected to be the most dynamic growth sector within the aerospace industry in the next decade," said Unmanned Systems Alliance of Oklahoma (USA-OK) President, James L. Grimsley. "This is an important time for the unmanned aerial systems industry and for Oklahoma."

"Successful SUAS test operations at Ft. Sill may lead, later, to more complex SUAS operational testing at two other Oklahoma sites," the RAPS Test Plan said. These sites are the Oklahoma National Guard's Camp Gruber and the University Multispectral Laboratory's test site at Chilocco, Okla., "both of which have varied and realistic urban complex facilities."

Public and congressional concerns over the expanding use of UAVs of all kinds by federal, state and local law enforcement were exacerbated recently following a report by CNET.com that DHS has "customized its Predator drones" to be able to "identify civilians carrying guns and tracking their cell phones."

CNET.com reported that DHS's "specifications for its drones ... 'shall be capable of identifying a standing human being at night as likely armed or not,'" and that "They also specify 'signals interception' technology that can capture communications in the frequency ranges used by mobile phones and 'direction finding' technology that can identify the locations of mobile devices or two-way radios."

The disclosure was based on an apparent "unredacted copy" of the May 26, 2005, CBP Office of Air and Marine (OAM) Performance Specification for the DHS/Customs and Border Protection Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System document that DHS released in redacted form to the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

An updated March 10, 2010 CBP OAM performance specifications document for CBP's Predator B UAV also was obtained by EPIC under the FOIA, and portions of it also were redacted.

Most of the redactions, though, were made pursuant to legitimate FOIA exemptions authorizing the withholding of records compiled for law enforcement purposes or that would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations.

Much of the redacted information deals with sensitive operational and performance capabilities of CBP's fleet of Predators, as well sensitive technical data on the UAVs' sensor packages and specifications.

A CBP spokesman told CNET.com the agency "is not deploying signals interception capabilities on its UAS fleet. Any potential deployment of such technology in the future would be implemented in full consideration of civil rights, civil liberties and privacy interests and in a manner consistent with the law and long-standing law enforcement practices."

But privacy rights advocates don't see it that way. EPIC's Ginger McCall, director of the group's Open Government Project, has said CBP's UAS requirements documents "clearly evidence that the Department of Homeland Security is developing drones with signals interception technology and the capability to identify people on the ground," and that "This allows for invasive surveillance, including potential communications surveillance, that could run afoul of federal privacy laws."

As for the deployment of communications interception technology on CBP's Predators, officials adamantly said there are numerous legal issues involved "that would have to be worked out" before this capability can routinely be used.

http://www.hstoday.us/industry-news/general/single-article/exclusive-dhs-small-drone-test-plan-calls-for-evaluating-sensors-for-first-responder-hs-operational-communities/85fbd03243c8559e42ddaaaf324f84c7.html

[patric]

I'll be building my own drone soon enough. I'll give you guys some camera time.

Drone stuck in the arms of Lady Justice
http://www.marionstar.com/article/20130430/NEWS01/304300023/Drone-stuck-arms-Lady-Justice?nclick_check=1

Lest you think the headline was hyperbole:

[BKDotCom]

Drone stuck in the arms of Lady Justice
http://www.marionstar.com/article/20130430/NEWS01/304300023/Drone-stuck-arms-Lady-Justice?nclick_check=1

Lest you think the headline was hyperbole:

If this was some government drone we'd definitely have something.
As it is, it's some doofus photographer's drone (glorified RC helicopter/camera)..  which, if anything, hints that civilian drone usage needs more regulation.   I'm certainly not for that.. but we can't have idiots crashing their whirling blades into crouds, etc..

[Callahan]

Drone stuck in the arms of Lady Justice
http://www.marionstar.com/article/20130430/NEWS01/304300023/Drone-stuck-arms-Lady-Justice?nclick_check=1

Lest you think the headline was hyperbole:

So where is Alex Jones and the rest of the tin-foil hat, mouth breathers on this?