China Demonstrates 25+ Unmanned Aerial Vehicles 97
"The Wall Street Journal and Defense News report that China had more than 25 different unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on display at the Zhuhai Airshow. In addition to a jet powered UAV that is potentially faster than US made drones such as the Predator and Reaper, the Chinese have developed an unmanned 'thopter' for surveillance. 'ASN showed off 10 different UAVs, including the new ASN-211 Flapping Wing Aircraft System, which simulates a bird in flight. The prototype on display has a take-off weight of only 220 grams with a maximum speed of six-to-10 meters a second and an altitude ranging from 20-200 meters. A spokesperson said the micro-UAV would mainly be used for low-altitude reconnaissance for troops in the field.'"
Re:Ornithopter, FTW. (Score:4, Informative)
According to her own estimates, Sabine has gone around the track more than 20,000 times, increasing by approximately 1,200 per year. Her familiarity with the circuit earned her the nicknames "Queen of the Nürburgring" and "the fastest taxi driver in the world".
Re:No source? (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=5056235&c=AIR&s=TOP [defensenews.com]
http://sidelobe.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/zhuhai-unusual-models-on-display/ [wordpress.com]
Re:I wonder how many are original development. (Score:3, Informative)
The notorious mode operandi of chinese military industry
That's mode of operation or modus operandi. HTH, HAND.
Re:The short sightedness of governments (Score:2, Informative)
A tiny UAV can't carry any meaningful cargo
A comment which shows a surprising lack of imagination. How much does $5 million worth of diamonds weigh? Or how about large numbers of flights carrying small amounts of say, cocaine or heroin?
A single decent small drone with very short range is a thousand dollars. So you see, I have imagined this quite a bit.
We have numerous technologies for shooting down missiles
Yes but this is a model aircraft traveling at 35mph and 100ft in the air, with virtually no heat signature (especially the electric ones powered by lithium batteries) and very little radar signature. How will your 5 million dollar missile distinguish between this and ground clutter?
Your battery-powered drones are not going to be making any border crossings unless they are big enough for a Phalanx CIWS to shoot down, and similar but smaller systems could be put together. I mean, am I the only one who remembers two college students calling themselves U.S. Mechatronics putting together a sentry gun which just holds an airsoft gun? You'd alter the code a bit and you'd give it a semi-automatic .177 rifle set up to belt-feed, and loaded with expanding rounds. They're always going to be much cheaper to shoot down than to put up. That's just kind of a truism of aircraft. Beyond that, the federal government has a lot more money to spend shooting them down than will be spent on putting them up. It's a non-issue.
As for infrastructure - right. You won't bust bunkers with this, but I wonder what a couple of them filled with incendiary material could do to a petrochemical tank farm or an oil refinery...
the first time it happens it will be a shock. then sentry guns will be mounted on those facilities. We have the technology right now. RADAR can already pick up model airplanes, unless they are stealthy, which is still expensive to accomplish. There are cruise missiles all over the planet and available to those with cash already, and nobody is doing this to us now, so I think you're overstating the threat.