Posted on 12/24/2015 9:40:36 AM PST by Seizethecarp
The Air Force revolutionized drone warfare. Now it’s finding itself on the defensive.
Rogue toy drones — a hot-selling Christmas gift this season and last — are starting to interfere with military operations at several bases across the country.
With sales of consumer drones expected to approach 700,000 this year, military officials say they are bracing for the problem to get worse and are worried about the potential for an aviation disaster.
Last month, an Air Force A-29 Super Tucano aircraft reported a near midair collision with a small rogue drone over the Grand Bay Bombing and Gunnery Range in Georgia, Air Force officials said.
In June, an Air Force KC-10 aerial refueling tanker flying over the Philadelphia suburbs at an altitude of 3,800 feet was forced to take evasive action and barely avoided striking a football-sized drone that passed within 10 feet of its right wing, officials said.
There have been at least 35 cases of small drones interfering with military aircraft or operating too close to military airfields in 2015, according to reports filed with the armed forces or the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Air Force is also considering more forceful countermeasures. On Tuesday, the service posted a contract solicitation for portable equipment that could be used to disrupt the flight paths of rogue drones near military installations.
According to the solicitation, the Air Force Global Strike Command wants to buy portable jammers that would interfere with drones’ navigational signals and force them to return to where they launched from.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Justifies building a fleet of thousands of drones, at a fraction of the cost of a wing of billion dollar fighters.
Rogue Drones launched by the Rebel Alliance!!
Has the military never heard of target practice?
Where is the ‘Grand Bay bombing and gunnery range’? Moody isn’t anywhere near the coast.
If the enemy were smart, they’d keep a squadron of cheap drones deployed around strategic targets to interfere with the big ones.
Wonder how long it will be before the technology advances to the point where this will be possible?
Just set up jammers or localized EMP generators. Track down the controllers, arrest and prosecute.
“Prepare for Drone Apocalypse”: New ammo meant to protect privacy— and down drones
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/24/drone-munition-new-line-ammo-company-meant-protect/
At max speed, the T-38 Talons flown out of Moody are only 6 minutes from the Gulf and 7.5 minutes from the Atlantic.
We should have the same thing around civilian airports. I fear it's just a matter of time before someone uses drones to bring down an airliner.
Shoot down the rogue drones, then track down the owners (as many will be autonomous) and send them a check for the amount.
Unless of course you want to lose the next big war.
Maybe the Air Force is looking for the British to submit a proposal for this system:
“The ‘death ray’ that can knock out drones from up to a mile away using radio waves”
It could be the answer to the rising threat of drones - a ‘death ray’ that uses radio waves to disable them from up to a mile away.
The system is being shown off in Las Vegas amid growing concern over the threat from unmanned vehicles.
It uses high powered radio waves to disable drones, effectively blocking their communication and switching them off in midair.
Defences sources confirmed last month the British-designed system called AUDS – Anti Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Defence System – was trialled in Scotland earlier this year and proved effective against remote-controlled drones and autonomous drones which follow pre- programmed flight paths.
The manufacturers of AUDS claim it takes between 10 and 15 seconds to target and disrupt multiple drones being flown in a ‘swarm attack’.
The technology has been designed to intercept civilian grade mini-drones and would not affect commercial or military aircraft, which use encrypted communications.
Boeing recently revealed a radical new laser weapon small enough to fit into a suitcase - but poweful enough to blast a drone out of the sky.
Like a bird strike only worse.
The Japanese have a neat setup to eliminate any unwanted drone - they use a capture drone with a squarish net hanging from the bottom and sneaks up on the rogue catching it in the net. Looks like flies hanging off flypaper ...
Quadrocopter fleet stuns Londoners with giant hovering Star Trek logo (video)
An autonomous swarm of drones (10min video)
This was chosen to illustrate the research process as developed in Hungary to show that DARPA type funding is not required for the software. Leave it to you to see what's happening in open sources here in USA
Serious game changer intel gathering, defense and offense with potential far better bang for the buck ratio than multi-billion dollars mil systems too bloated be ability to be utilized in high risk scenarios. Quantity has a mass of its own.....
My error, A-10’s fly out of Moody. Might take a little longer to get to the coast.
Yes, but the notices suggest that it may be in Lowndes county. “Grand Bay Range is located east of Moody Air Force Base in Lanier and Lowndes counties” Not even any big lakes around there.
That's backwards. Shoot them down, then send the owners a bill for the ammunition used.
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