Drones & UAVs News & Discussions

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caltrek
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Drones Have Become a Revolution in Military Affairs
by Theodore Karasik
December 24, 2022

Introduction:
(Eurasia Review) Today’s use of drones and munitions is a revolution in military affairs, or RMA. Too many analyses suffer from misunderstandings that have been feeding into drone use, specifically Iran’s ability to create its doctrine and its exports.

Research shows that advances in technology can bring about dramatic changes in military operations, often termed RMAs. Such technology-driven changes in military operations are not merely a recent phenomenon — they have been occurring since the dawn of history and will continue to occur in the future. And they will continue to bestow a military advantage on the first nation to develop and use them.

Studies reveal that militaries being willing to conduct operations in new ways and establish new promotion pathways for trainees who practice a new way of war, with mechanisms for experimentation so they can discover, learn, test and demonstrate new ideas, can be seen from Ukraine to Yemen. It is important to note that some scholars argue that RMAs have little to no influence beyond the tactical and operational levels of confrontation and war. This approach is mistaken, as there has been an evolution in thought.

Learning lessons from watching the use of drones in various theaters of war over time reveals that sophistication requires supply. The off-the-shelf aspect to drone use — as represented by Chinese DJI drones, Turkey’s Bayraktar TB2 and Russia’s Orion drones — delivers results of varying degrees. For example, using drones to drop mortars on Russian supply lines is a major advancement in tactics and likely leads next to swarming techniques with multiple drone systems. It is important to actively watch and learn from what is developing from a technological perspective globally with drone use, and how those evolutions and maturity models are shaping the security environment as part of the drone RMA.

Given that drones are now ubiquitous, they are likely to play a key role in the way Al-Shabab conducts its operations, just as other terrorist groups that are looking for more effective methods to spread their chaotic message have begun to do the same. This fact is an inevitable part of the drone RMA.
Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/24122022 ... analysis/
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Amazon begins drone deliveries in California and Texas
Amazon Prime Air wants to deliver packages within 60 minutes.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/12 ... and-texas/
Eric Bangeman - 12/28/2022, 7:15 AM

Amazon has begun delivering orders by drone. Amazon Prime Air is now operating in Lockeford, Calif. and College Station, Texas, delivering a small number of packages just in time for Christmas.

In August of this year, the retail giant received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to use drones for package deliveries. The maximum payload for Prime Air is 5 lb, and Amazon says that 85 percent of its shipments fall under that weight.

Residents of both towns can sign up for the service, and Amazon will then confirm that the company can deliver safely to the customer's address. Once an order is placed, the customer gets an estimated delivery time and tracking info.

"The drone will fly to the designated delivery location, descend to the customer's backyard, and hover at a safe height," Amazon said. "It will then safely release the package and rise back up to altitude."

Lockeford is a small, rural town of about 3,500 residents located about 50 miles southeast of Sacramento and just northwest of Stockton, making it an ideal location to pilot drone delivery. College Station is roughly 100 miles northwest of Houston and is the home of Texas A&M University.
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MIT Devises Algorithm That Keeps Drones From Colliding
Robust MADER requires all drones in a flock to agree on non-intersecting paths, but they don't all have to agree at the same time.
By Ryan Whitwam March 30, 2023
https://www.extremetech.com/science/mit ... -colliding
Today's drone aircraft are capable of impressive feats of aerial acrobatics, but a single drone can't do much. Most proposed applications for drone aircraft call for a flock of them, but the risk of collision is omnipresent. A new trajectory planning algorithm devised by MIT researchers might be able to prevent that.

MIT researchers first tackled this problem in 2020 with the development of MADER. This multiagent trajectory planner allows a group of drones to choose paths and share data so they don't run into each other. While each agent in the MADER cluster is supposed to take the trajectory of others into account, the team found it failed to prevent all collisions in real-world testing. "The drones need to talk to each other to share trajectories, but once you start flying, you realize pretty quickly that there are always communication delays that introduce some failures," says Kota Kondo, the lead author of the study (which has not yet been peer-reviewed).

The issue, it turns out, is that if trajectory data isn't up-to-date when an agent chooses its flight path, it could end up on a course that smacks right into one of its companions. The team is now back with Robust MADER, which addresses that shortcoming by ensuring each drone chooses a collision-free course even when communication is delayed.
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US Army chooses V-BAT VTOL drone as potential RQ-7B Shadow replacement
By David Szondy
March 29, 2023
https://newatlas.com/military/v-bat-ver ... candidate/
The US Army has chosen the enhanced vertical liftoff V-BAT UAS developed by Northrop Grumman and Shield AI to take part in the Army's Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (FTUAS) competition, Increment 2, to find a replacement for the venerable RQ-7B Shadow tactical drone.

First flown in 1991, the RQ-7B Shadow has racked up an impressive operational record since it first entered service in 2001. However, its catapult launch system, arrestor wire landings, and inability to operate in all weather means its days are numbered and the US Army is seeking a simpler and more effective replacement.

One formal candidate is an enhanced version of the V-BAT drone platform originally developed by Martin UAV, which finished flight testing in 2021. Unlike the Shadow, the V-BAT is designed to be transported and operated by a team of two soldiers, lifts off and lands resting on its tail, flies horizontally, and is equipped with a ducted fan to provide better performance while protecting the operators from exposed blades.
V-BAT is designed to be transported and launched by two soldiers
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Turkey’s ‘Drone Carrier’ Amphibious Assault Ship Enters Service
by Emma Helfrich
April 11, 2023

Introduction:
(The Drive) The Turkish Navy on Monday celebrated the entry into service of its new flagship, the TCG Anadolu, now the country’s largest warship, with an inauguration ceremony held about three months after the ship’s actual delivery due to scheduling conflicts. The Anadolu is classed as an amphibious assault ship, but officials in Turkey say they have big plans to also use the vessel as a carrier for different tiers of armed drones.

Based on the design of Spain’s Juan Carlos I amphibious assault ship, Anadolu was laid down at the Sedef Shipyard in the city of Istanbul beginning in 2018. The vessel was launched just one year later and preliminary trials were completed in 2022. Speaking at the delivery ceremony also held at Sedef, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan noted that 70% of Anadolu was built using only parts and components made in Turkey, including its weapons, combat systems, radars, infrared search-and-track capability, and electronic warfare suite.

(See linked article for Twitter feed).

This vessel will allow us to conduct military and humanitarian operations in every corner of the world when needed," said Erdogan. "We see this vessel as a symbol that will consolidate Turkey's regional leadership position."

Anadolu has a typical landing helicopter dock (LHD) configuration, with a large flight deck on top and a well deck at the rear. It's intended to project forces ashore during an amphibious assault using helicopters, landing craft, and both light and heavy armored vehicles. Erdogan went on to speak about the range of additional capabilities Anadolu could provide as well, which include command and control, medical support, and humanitarian relief.

Erdogan also prominently highlighted Anadolu’s ability to carry and deploy a variety of armed drones, which is a concept that Turkey has been envisioning for the vessel for some time now. Since the ship was initially ordered back in 2015, Anadolu has evolved to become a unique multipurpose vessel that also can focus on unmanned aircraft operations. In this way, it should move beyond traditional manned rotary-wing capabilities, basically acting as a light aircraft carrier for combat drones.

Read more here: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ ... s-service
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JACKAL VTOL drone fires advanced multi-role missiles in successful trial
By David Szondy
April 18, 2023
https://newatlas.com/military/jackal-vt ... ful-trial/
The age of uncrewed air combat took a step forward as two Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) JACKAL drones developed by Flyby Technology successfully fired a Thales Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMM) in tests sponsored by the Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) of the Royal Air Force.

Ever since it was realized that a reconnaissance drone could be armed with bombs or missiles, Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAV) have become a standard part of many nation's air wings. However, simply bolting a weapon to a wing or sticking a warhead in a suicide drone is still a very long way from a true air combat vehicle.

Working with Turkish partners FlyBVLOS Technology and Maxwell Innovations, UK-based Flyby Technology is developing its JACKAL UCAV, which is aimed at countries that cannot afford to field attack helicopters or light fighter aircraft. By being able to take off and land vertically, it doesn't require vulnerable runways or roads and it can carry out battlefield air interdiction, close air support, anti-helicopter, and anti-armor missions.
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caltrek wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 9:30 pm Drones Have Become a Revolution in Military Affairs
by Theodore Karasik
December 24, 2022

Introduction:
(Eurasia Review) Today’s use of drones and munitions is a revolution in military affairs, or RMA. Too many analyses suffer from misunderstandings that have been feeding into drone use, specifically Iran’s ability to create its doctrine and its exports.

Research shows that advances in technology can bring about dramatic changes in military operations, often termed RMAs. Such technology-driven changes in military operations are not merely a recent phenomenon — they have been occurring since the dawn of history and will continue to occur in the future. And they will continue to bestow a military advantage on the first nation to develop and use them.

Studies reveal that militaries being willing to conduct operations in new ways and establish new promotion pathways for trainees who practice a new way of war, with mechanisms for experimentation so they can discover, learn, test and demonstrate new ideas, can be seen from Ukraine to Yemen. It is important to note that some scholars argue that RMAs have little to no influence beyond the tactical and operational levels of confrontation and war. This approach is mistaken, as there has been an evolution in thought.

Learning lessons from watching the use of drones in various theaters of war over time reveals that sophistication requires supply. The off-the-shelf aspect to drone use — as represented by Chinese DJI drones, Turkey’s Bayraktar TB2 and Russia’s Orion drones — delivers results of varying degrees. For example, using drones to drop mortars on Russian supply lines is a major advancement in tactics and likely leads next to swarming techniques with multiple drone systems. It is important to actively watch and learn from what is developing from a technological perspective globally with drone use, and how those evolutions and maturity models are shaping the security environment as part of the drone RMA.

Given that drones are now ubiquitous, they are likely to play a key role in the way Al-Shabab conducts its operations, just as other terrorist groups that are looking for more effective methods to spread their chaotic message have begun to do the same. This fact is an inevitable part of the drone RMA.
Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/24122022 ... analysis/

The one and only problem with A.i within my opinion is connecting these drones and robots to it and training it to kill. That could turn very ugly fast. We're dumb enough as a species to do such an idiotic thing too. North Korea or Russia may do it.
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