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 ...
Show me a 20 pound drone and I will agree. This is more hype than anything else.
Swans and geese have routinely been seen above 20,000 ft, and hitting one or more of them at cruise speed will make for a bad day, ask Sully.
Bird strikes are common, and rarely deadly.
99% of the drones stay under 1,000 ft and weigh less than a parrot.
I agree with most of what you say but the typical outdoor multirotors capable of higher altitudes would weigh 3-5 and some parrots weigh a lot less (my small parrot weighs 3-4 ounces and my largest heli weighs 2 lbs).
Don’t birds pose the same kind of aviation danger as toy drones?
And aren’t there a lot more birds?
It’s a matter of time until Achmed can fly a drone swarm...can’t miss.
Radio cntrolled helicopters are good toys. Drones are bad toys. They are one in the same.
The term drone was coined to make them evil.
(I have no stock in any company manufacturing or marketing radio controlled planes or helicpoters.)
Deploy computerized shotgun phalanxes around all military installations, rogue drone problem is history. And wouldn’t we all like a similar system at our homes?
As a percent of drone sales, the number of large drones is insignificant. Yes, they exist, and you can buy them, but you are more likely to have an accident with a new Lamborghini than encounter a multi thousand dollar drone (for the same reason - cost compared to the fleet average).
Yes, and yes.
Migratory waterfowl include several different goose and swan varieties. The last Tundra swan I shot had his feed drag the ground with me holding his head over my shoulder (I stand 5’ 10”).
These birds fly up at cruise altitudes for jets, both day and night. Plus, they love wetland areas near coastal airports.
I’m glad Hungary is in NATO...for now, at least, unless Obama and Merkel drive them out...
The FAA just issued regulations requiring drones weighting more than half a pound to be registered.
Seagulls are a major problem at many big city coastal airports. An average seagull weighs 1.5 to 2.5 lbs.
Florida, between Jan 1, 2015 and Oct 10th, reported 390 wildlife struck by aircraft. Nearly all were birds ( a few possums, racoons, etc.) ranging in size from swallows to turkey vultures.
http://wildlife.faa.gov/database.aspx
Aircraft are often tested by firing dead chickens at the windscreen or engines. The Brits asked to borrow a US “Chicken Cannon” to test a new design. The windscreen failed in the first several tests. Finally, the Brits emailed the Yanks asking for design recommendations.
The Yanks replied, “First, thaw the chicken.”
BTW I’ve hit an African Swift at 3,000ft altitude (Bell Jet Ranger) and a seagull shortly after takeoff one night at Cherry Point, NC (Sikorsky CH-53D) The seagull hit dead center on the nose avionics hatch, which acted like a drum head. Sounded like an explosion! No damage, just reset the circuit breaker on my pacemaker.. :-)
I've been tempted to buy one of those drones for awhile.I wonder what would happen if....
Birds are a continuous threat to civil and military aviation and flocks of birds must be cleared away from runways before any flight can be cleared for takeoff by the tower.
An AWACS plane in Alaska was destroyed by Canada Geese taking out two engines on one side.
Terrorists could reverse engineer a similar crash with a swarm of drones.
Press release from Office of Naval Research, April 14, 2015
By David Smalley, Office of Naval Research
More than just Quad-copters, full size UAVs, ship launched, discussed
Lived in Jville 2 yrs. I felt like Radar on MASH when I would get the urge to out for a smoke and sure enough someone would be flying overhead in a minute or so. Stayed in Havelock a couple of times (to pick up my son from Lejeune) and of course it was cloudy but I heard the take offs. Have a Merry Christmas, and welcome home.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.