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Switchblade is a Non Line of Sight (NLOS) munition enabling engagement of time-sensitive fleeting, high value targets with an armed, tactical miniature aerial system (MAV), operated with 'man-in-the-loop' control for identification, targeting, and attack. Allowing engagement of stationary or maneuvering targets ensuring high kill probability. To perform what special operations snipers are doing today - but offer operators more opportunities to strike, perform more complex missions at longer range and ensure maximum safety for the shooter. AeroVironment describes the Switchblade as the warfighter's “magic bullet”. It can rapidly provide a powerful, but expendable miniature flying Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR)...

A Marine and a Navy medic killed by a U.S. drone airstrike were targeted when Marine commanders in Afghanistan mistook them for Taliban fighters, even though analysts watching the Predator's video feed were uncertain whether the men were part of an enemy force. Those are the findings of a Pentagon investigation of the first known case of friendly fire deaths involving an unmanned aircraft, the April 6 attack that killed Marine Staff Sgt. Jeremy Smith, 26, and Navy Hospitalman Benjamin D. Rast, 23. The 381-page report, which has not been released, concludes that the Marine officers on the scene and...

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: A US missile strike killed at least six suspected militants in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border Saturday, two Pakistani intelligence officials said, in the third such American missile attack in as many days. The officials said four missiles slammed into a compound near the border town of Angore Adda in the South Waziristan tribal region. The strike was targeting fighters of Maulvi Nazir, a militant commander who is accused of working with the Taliban and al-Qaeda to direct cross-border attacks, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Nazir is believed to have an agreement with...

1 The Long War Journal: US Predators kill 6 'militants' in North and South Waziristan Written by Bill Roggio on October 13, 2011 12:09 AM to 1 The Long War Journal Available online at: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/10/us_predators_kill_4_10.php US Predators struck today in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agencies of North and South Waziristan, killing six "militants" in the first recorded strikes in nearly two weeks. In the first strike, the unmanned, CIA-operated Predators, or the more deadly Reapers, fired a pair of missiles in the village of Danda Darpa Khel just outside Miramshah, the main town in North Waziristan, according to AFP. Pakistani...

Once the war on terror’s fiercest critic, Obama has become its deadliest practitioner.We are in a long war against radical Islamic terrorism. The struggle seems almost similar to the on-again/off-again ordeals of the past — such as the French-English Hundred Years War of the 14th and 15th centuries, or the Thirty Years War between Catholics and Protestants in the 17th century. In these kinds of drawn-out conflicts, final victory will go to the side that responds best to new challenges. And we’ve seen a lot of those since 9/11, when the United States was caught unaware and apparently ill-equipped to...

It was only a matter of time: the weakest link in the otherwise awesome idea that is a remote-controlled military, represented by the thousands of Predator and Reaper drones, has always been its biggest strength: the fact that it is remote-controlled. Which means that with no person on location, the system has always been susceptible to infiltration in the form of intermediation between the offsite pilot and the actual equipment. Such as a virus. And as Wired reports, a viral infestation, the biggest nightmare for the the US drone fleet, has just struck. "A computer virus has infected the cockpits...

An unnamed computer virus is compromising the security of U.S. Reaper and Predator drones as they fly missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, and Pakistan. Wired reports the virus was found about two weeks ago and hasn't kept the drone pilots at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada from conducting missions. There haven't been any reports of classified data breaches, but the virus has resisted the military's best efforts to remove it.

Here's the trickiest counterterrorism puzzle for U.S. policymakers: How do you stop al-Qaida from attacking the American homeland, without getting bogged down in protracted wars against insurgents? One answer would be to establish deterrence in the long war against Islamic extremism, like the standoff that developed between the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The Soviets were obviously a far bigger adversary, but the basic logic is the same: Both sides have deadly weapons; but if you don't shoot at us, we won't shoot at you. The Obama administration hasn't declared any such neo-deterrence strategy, but you...

1 The Long War Journal: 'Good' Pakistani Taliban commander killed in US Predator strike Written by Bill Roggio on October 2, 2011 7:54 AM to 1 The Long War Journal Available online at: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/10/good_pakistani_talib_2.php US Predators killed a deputy of Mullah Nazir, who is considered to be a "good Taliban" commander by the Pakistani military, in an airstrike late last week. The deputy, Haleem Ullah, was among three "militants" killed in the airstrike that targeted a vehicle parked in a compound in the village of Baghar in the Angor Adda area of South Waziristan, according to The Associated Press....

Reporting from Washington— In the wake of the U.S. drone strike in Yemen that killed two Americans linked to Al Qaeda, U.S. intelligence officials were attempting to confirm reports that an inventive Saudi bomb maker for the terrorist organization also was among the dead. News reports said one of at least two other men killed in the CIA-led operation Friday was Ibrahim Hassan Asiri, a fugitive whose signature bomb-making style has linked him to multiple attacks that were directed by the offshoot group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

PESHAWAR: A US drone Friday killed at least three militants when it fired missiles on a vehicle in a restive Pakistan tribal area bordering Afghanistan, security officials said. The strike took place at Baghar village of South Waziristan tribal district, two security officials said. “A US drone fired two missiles at a vehicle and at least three militants were killed,” a senior security official told AFP. Another security official and an intelligence official based in the region confirmed the attack and death toll. The identities or affiliations of the militants were not immediately clear.

wo South African companies are attempting to elbow their way into the global defense market with an unusual new aircraft developed on home soil. Paramount Group and Aerosud Holdings Ltd. on Tuesday will unveil the Ahrlac, a compact plane that they say merges the capabilities of a drone, an attack helicopter and surveillance aircraft. "There's nothing like it in the marketplace," says Paul Potgieter, managing director of closely held Aerosud. The Ahrlac—short for Advanced High Performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft—aims to fill a niche left by less-versatile and more-expensive rivals. Most countries on the continent rely on modified cargo planes or...

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan — A US drone strike in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt on Friday killed at least six militants including four foreigners and destroyed a compound, security officials said. Two missiles fired by the unmanned aircraft hit a house in the village of Khushali Turikhel, 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town in the lawless North Waziristan tribal district, security officials told AFP. "The US drone fired two missiles which hit a house. Two locals and four militants of central Asian origin have been killed," a Pakistani security official said. The official based in Peshawar said militants...

A US drone has fired missiles in southern districts of Somalia killing at least eleven people and injuring dozens of others, report said. The attack took place early Friday morning near Taabto and Qooqani districts and wounded at least 27 people.

MIRANSHAH: At least four people have been reported killed after a US drone fired two missiles at them in the North Waziristan, Geo News reported. Sources told Geo News an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) targeted a house and a vehicle killing four people in District Mirali. Local sources have confirmed four casualties. It’s been reported as well that four drones kept hovering over the area following the kills, which impeded rescue work. This was the 40th such attack in North Waziristan, taking the tally of total drone attacks, so far, this year to 55.

Al-Qaida's second-in-command, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, has been killed in Pakistan, delivering another big blow to a terrorist group that the U.S. believes to be on the verge of defeat, a senior Obama administration official said Saturday. The Libyan national who was the network's former operational leader rose to al-Qaida's No. 2 spot after the U.S. killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden during a raid on his Pakistan compound in May. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said last month that al-Qaida's defeat was within reach if the U.S. could mount a string of successful attacks on the group's weakened leadership.

Although Libyan rebels have been celebrating their advance into the capital of Tripoli this week, just a few weeks ago, they had a problem. Outgunned and poorly trained, Libya's ragtag opposition was the object of pitying--if not unsympathetic--reports by the journalists covering their seemingly hapless efforts to advance and hold ground against Gadhafi's professional forces, who were better trained and better equipped. Naturally, the rebels turned to the Internet for help. In June, members of the Libyan Transitional National Council were "searching the Web," the New York Times reports, when they found information about a surveillance drone--"essentially a tiny,...

After five years behind locked doors, researchers at Lockheed Martin's Intelligent Robotics Laboratories in New Jersey have emerged with a working prototype of the "Samarai," a tiny DARPA-commissioned surveillance drone. The nano air vehicles (NAVs), modeled after falling Maple leaf seeds, are designed to be super light weight and agile for vertical lift off, hovering, and navigation in tight spaces. Like your favorite $5 Subway sammie, these surveillance bots are a foot long, but instead of being shoveled in your mouth, they're thrown like boomerangs into flight and controlled using a tablet app or a basic remote. These eyes in...

A US drone attack has killed at least 21 militants in north-western Pakistan, local intelligence officials said. The drone fired two missiles, destroying a vehicle and a compound near Miranshah town in North Waziristan tribal district, on the Afghan border. The dead militants include some foreigners and are believed to be part of the Haqqani network, officials say.

MIRANSHAH (AFP) - A US drone strike targeting a vehicle in North Waziristan Agency killed four militants on Tuesday, local security officials said. The missile attack, the second in two days, took place near Qutub Khel village, five kilometres east of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan Agency.