September 10, 2018 – September 16, 2018 If you would like to receive the Weekly Roundup in your inbox, please subscribe at the bottom of the page. Top Stories The European Parliament passed a resolution calling for a preemptive ban on lethal autonomous weapons. The resolution requests that the European Union …
[gview file=”http://dronecenter.bard.edu/files/2017/02/CSD-Loitering-Munitions.pdf”] In the early history of unmanned aviation, the distinction between a drone and guided missile was not always well defined. The World War One-era Kettering Bug, regarded to be one of the first drones, was designed to deliver an explosive charge by crashing into its targets, more like …
For an expanded database of drones, please see our September 2019 publication, The Drone Databook. A growing number of countries are developing or acquiring unmanned aircraft systems. These drones are playing an ever-larger role in conflicts around the world. For example, we identified 38 drones made in six countries that …
October 3, 2016 – October 9, 2016 If you would like to receive the Weekly Roundup in your inbox, please subscribe at the bottom of the page. News A U.S. drone strike in Syria killed Abu al-Farai al-Masri, an Egyptian-born veteran of al-Qaeda and leader of Jabhat al-Nusra. According to …
By Dan Gettinger On November 1, 2015, Pei Qi “Paul” Ma, the owner and manager of an import/export business based in Xi’an, China, was arrested by police at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport as he attempted to board a flight to Las Vegas, where he was planning on attending a trade show. …
By Dan Gettinger The Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman have, for several years, been a nexus for Iranian military drone activity. At no time was this more evident than on January 29, the day Iran claimed that it had flown a drone over an American aircraft carrier. In our …
1/25/16 – 1/31/16 If you would like to receive the Weekly Roundup in your inbox, please subscribe at the bottom of the page. At the Center for the Study of the Drone Immediately following the detonation of Gilda at Bikini Atoll on July 1, 1946, a ghostly fleet of aircraft flew …
For an update on underwater drones, click here. By Dan Gettinger Late last month, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus appointed Brig. Gen. Frank Kelley to become the first deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for unmanned systems, a position that was created in April. “The change to the organization …
9/7/15 – 9/13/15 If you would like to receive the Weekly Roundup in your inbox, please subscribe at the bottom of the page. At the Center for the Study of the Drone We have continued our analysis of hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration’s reports of near misses involving drones and manned …
By Arthur Holland Michel In January of this year, photos emerged that appeared to show a China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation CH-3 drone armed with two AR-1 anti-tank missiles lying upside down in a field in Nigeria’s Borno Province, where Nigerian forces have been battling Boko Haram. The crash …
5/12/15 – 5/18/15 If you would like to receive the Weekly Roundup in your inbox, please subscribe at the bottom of the page. At the Center for the Study of the Drone Earlier this month, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International hosted its annual Unmanned Systems 2015 conference, the world’s …
By Dan Gettinger When it comes to unmanned flight today, fixed-wing drones like the Predator and Reaper have captured much of the public imagination and debate, particular in the military realm. Less mentioned, however, is the fact that helicopter drones—which are known as Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) UAVs—are a …
