UAVs

18 Stories

New York Is Creating a 50-Mile Drone Corridor

Upstate area will have 'nation's most advanced testing'

(Newser) - Envisioning a day when millions of drones will buzz around delivering packages, watching crops, or inspecting pipelines, a coalition is creating an airspace corridor in upstate New York where traffic management systems will be developed and unmanned aircraft can undergo safety and performance testing. The unmanned aircraft traffic management corridor,...

Drone Comes Within 200 Feet of Plane Near LAX

Police are looking for its owner

(Newser) - Officials say a drone came within about 200 feet of a commercial airliner as it approached Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, the AP reports. An FAA spokesperson says the pilot of the Lufthansa A380 reported that the drone had flown closely over it when the plane was about 5,...

China's New Drone May Be Based On Stolen US Blueprints

'Basically a clone of the Reaper'

(Newser) - China is closing the drone-gap with the US military, and it may be thanks to stolen designs. The Asia Times reports China's newly unveiled UAV—the Caihong-4—bears a striking resemblance to the US military's MQ-9 Reaper, especially it its size, landing gear, engine, and tail. The Caihong-4—...

1M New Drones Could Buzz Skies This Christmas

The FAA is very worried

(Newser) - Santa better be extra careful during his rounds this year or Rudolph is going to get a faceful of drone. The FAA expects up to 1 million small unmanned aerial vehicles—from cheap toys to high-end quadcopters—to be sold for Christmas this year, and it's extremely concerned about...

Miscommunication Caused Friendly Fire Drone Killings

Warning by US-based analysts never sent to operator, ground forces: Report

(Newser) - The two US servicemen killed by a Predator in April died because Marines on the ground and the Air Force crew operating the drone were not told by analysts elsewhere of doubts about the men's identity, reports the LA Times . The incident occurred on April 6 when a Marine...

Air Force Plane, Drone Collide
 Air Force Plane, Drone Collide 
Aug 17, 2011 8:49 AM CDT

Air Force Plane, Drone Collide

Accident renews criticisms of using drones in civilian airspace

(Newser) - A C-130 cargo plane made an emergency landing in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, after colliding with a 12-foot-by-20-foot RQ-7 Shadow unmanned drone, reports the Wall Street Journal . The cargo plane was only slightly damaged and none of its crew was injured, but the incident is expected to step up criticisms...

US Drones Quietly Spy on Mexico Drug Lords

Flights kept hush-hush because they're probably illegal

(Newser) - The Obama administration has begun sending high-altitude spy drones deep into Mexican territory to keep an eye on the movements of drug traffickers, the New York Times reports. The information is intended to be shared with Mexican law enforcement, and Felipe Calderón formally agreed to the flights in his...

US Testing Next Generation of Spy Drones

Stealthy new planes can fly higher and faster than before

(Newser) - Last week, the US ran a secret test of an experimental spy plane that could revolutionize the war in Afghanistan. The $30 million plane, dubbed the Global Observer, has a wingspan almost as long as a Boeing 747, and can fly at stratospheric heights for days, keeping its “unblinking...

Miami Police Buy Spy Drone
Miami Police
Buy Spy Drone
Jan 7, 2011 11:15 AM CST

Miami Police Buy Spy Drone

Some residents have privacy concerns

(Newser) - Soon, America’s fearsome spy drones will prowl the sky in Kandahar, Waziristan, and … South Beach? The Miami-Dade Police Department has struck a deal to buy a drone, WSN-TV reports. Many residents aren’t particularly happy about this, but police are eager to have “an eye up there,...

New Wave of Drone Attacks Scorch Khyber

Almost 60 killed in Pakistan

(Newser) - Nearly 60 people have been killed in Pakistan’s Khyber district in a sudden onslaught from CIA drones. Three strikes in the Tirah Valley killed at least 50, while another nearby killed seven more, the BBC reports. Security officials say all those killed were militants, but that hasn’t been...

Napolitano: The Border Is More Secure Than Ever

And crime is down in border states, too

(Newser) - Janet Napolitano pushed back against immigration alarmists yesterday, even as she touted the the White House's latest efforts to secure the border. The Obama administration will deploy an unmanned aerial drone in Texas, and allow local police communities to temporarily “deploy” to assist the National Guard along the border,...

UN to US: Drone Attacks Could Be Unlawful

Human rights watchdog wants more accountability from CIA in Pakistan

(Newser) - A UN human rights watchdog has some strong misgivings about the CIA drone attacks on suspected terrorists in Pakistan that have killed 600 people since last year. "Extralegal executions" are a violation of international law, Philip Alston tells the BBC. “These Predators are being operated in a framework...

US Drones Back Up Pakistani Offensive

Predators offer intel on militant positions in South Waziristan

(Newser) - The US military is supporting the Pakistani offensive against Taliban militants in South Waziristan with intelligence and imaging collected by unmanned Predator drones. The support is separate from the CIA program using the drones inside Pakistan to kill terrorist leaders. “We are coordinating with the Pakistanis,” a military...

Suspected US Strike Kills 30 in Pakistan

(Newser) - An airstrike in Pakistan’s troubled South Waziristan region, likely orchestrated by the US, has killed about 30 people, the Los Angeles Times reports. The dead are thought to be al-Qaeda or Taliban militants; the attack destroyed the compound of an associate of the Taliban leader suspected in the assassination...

Controversial US Drones Based in Pakistan: Feinstein

(Newser) - Dianne Feinstein said today that Predator drones used to carry out attacks in Pakistan originate there, not in Afghanistan as had been widely assumed, the Los Angeles Times reports. The revelation, which is likely to cause trouble for the Pakistani government, came during testimony by spy chief Dennis Blair. A...

Robot Drones Have 'Changed War' in Iraq, Afghanistan

Unmanned vehicles help troops target trouble spots, keep casualties down

(Newser) - At the outset of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were little more than nifty, if sometimes helpful toys. They’ve since cemented a key role in US operations, Newsweek reports. Now hundreds of drones, some as small as model airplanes, keep an unblinking eye on militant...

Military Flying Saucers Coming
Military Flying Saucers Coming
Oct 13, 2007 12:10 AM CDT

Military Flying Saucers Coming

(Newser) - They’re not science fiction anymore. Researchers have built a real life flying saucer that looks and flies like a B-movie dream. The unmanned craft takes off vertically, maneuvers well, and can land almost anywhere. Cheaper and safer than a helicopter, the Defense Department thinks the saucer could become a...

Military Battles for Drone Control
Military Battles for Drone Control
Aug 20, 2007 1:45 AM CDT

Military Battles for Drone Control

Branches vie with each other for high-tech craft

(Newser) - New enemies are hovering over America's unmanned drone aircraft—branches of the US armed forces battling each other for control of the high-tech flyers. The Air Force is lobbying Congress for exclusive control over purchasing and developing the spy planes, a move opposed by the Army, Navy and Marines. 

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