Wednesday, April 13, 2022 // (IG): BB //Weekly Sponsor: Philly Tech Club
Behind Ukraine’s Turkish Drones, Erdogan’s Interests Home and Abroad
FROM THE MEDIA: Ukraine is using its Turkish-made armed drones to deadly effect against Russian forces. Turkey’s president benefits too. Given its effectiveness against Russian forces, it should come as no surprise that Turkey’s Bayraktar TB-2 armed drone has its own Ukrainian ‘war song’ on YouTube, with more than half a million clicks. The drone, a leading Turkish military export, has proved invaluable to Ukraine’s outnumbered, outgunned armed forces in defending against a Russian invasion that began on February 24. “We took offence to these orcs; Russian bandits are turned into ghosts by Bayraktar,” the Ukrainian Army wrote on its Facebook page in mid-March. The praise represents more positive PR for a drone manufactured by the son-in-law of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and already deployed to deadly effect in Libya, Syria and the second Nagorno-Karabakh war of 2020. But its use by Ukraine does not signal a shift in Turkish foreign policy; Ankara has not imposed sanctions on Russia, nor has it closed its airspace to Russian planes.
READ THE STORY: Balkan Insight
Ukraine’s Success Makes Japan Consider Drones as Part of Security Strategy
FROM THE MEDIA: The Defense Ministry of Japan is considering integrating attack drones into its plans starting in its fiscal year 2023. On March 30, 2022, Japan announced that it would develop unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) capable of military strikes. The war in Ukraine has played a role in this decision. During the early days of Russia’s invasion, Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones supplied to the Ukrainian armed forces saw action. UAF drones have targeted surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) arrayed by Russian troops, and the UAF has indicated that the radio-controlled, unmanned TB2 has demonstrated highly effective warfighting capabilities. While drone warfare already had the attention of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (SDF), allocated resources have been far from sufficient. Moreover, Japan’s use of drones has been limited to non-lethal tasks, such as reconnaissance and related purposes. From around the third day of the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian armed forces employed drones in attacks on Russian SAM sites. UAF also reported that drones were successful in retarding Russian logistical support by destroying transport vehicles on the road and thereby blocking materiel from reaching the Russian front lines. Video from consumer drones operated by civilians were posted online by the UAF, showing Russian-caused damage in the country. Thus, activist-owned UAVs served in the information war with Moscow and helped in securing support from other countries.
READ THE STORY: Japan Forward
Navigating Executive Order 13981’s Impact on Government Drone Procurement
FROM THE MEDIA: For years, federal agencies have been using drones for a wide range of use cases, from mapping to surveillance, search and rescue, and scientific research. However, in recent years federal agencies’ use of and ability to procure drones, or unmanned aerial systems (UAS), has evolved, largely stemming from security concerns about drones from Chinese manufacturers. In 2020, for example, the Interior Department grounded its entire fleet of drones over concerns “that Chinese parts in them might be used for spying, making exceptions only for emergency missions like fighting wildfires and search-and-rescue operations,” as The New York Times reports. Last year, former President Donald Trump issued an executive order just before leaving office that said the U.S. government would seek to prevent “the use of taxpayer dollars to procure UAS that present unacceptable risks and are manufactured by, or contain software or critical electronic components from, foreign adversaries, and to encourage the use of domestically produced UAS.” As a result, the General Services Administration works to ensure that only drones approved by the Defense Innovation Unit are permitted under Multiple Award Schedule contracts. So, which drones can federal agencies currently procure? Do they need to be American-made drones? How can agencies ensure that the drones they do use are as secure as possible? Here’s a breakdown of the state of UAS procurement.
READ THE STORY: Fed Tech Magazine
Nigeria to Manufacture Surveillance Drones
FROM THE MEDIA: Nigerian armored vehicle manufacturer Proforce has signed an agreement with French firm AERACCESS to manufacture surveillance drones in the African nation. The partnership seeks to bolster the air defense capabilities of the Nigerian military and address its internal defense challenges. The “immediate” production of drones in Nigeria could also strengthen the connection and military ties between Abuja and France. Proforce did not provide specific details regarding the drones that will be produced, but its partner AERACCESS is known for producing quadcopter-based classes such as the NanoHawk, HawkEye, and the SparrowHawk. “Our solutions give law enforcement personnel a situational awareness on the battlefield through real-time, airborne reconnaissance, surveillance, and communication,” the French company said. In addition to producing surveillance drones, Nigeria is also looking for twin-engine attack helicopters to help in the country’s counterterrorism and counterinsurgency campaigns. According to a report by Financial Express, the aircraft will be used to fire at ground and air targets such as armored vehicles and small drones.
READ THE STORY: The Defense Post
GoPro's Bones Brings Hero 10 Black Camera to FPV Drones
FROM THE MEDIA: GoPro has launched a camera for aerial cinematography, just a couple of weeks after introducing a new Hero 10 Black camera kit for creators. Outfitted with the insides of the original Hero 10 camera, the Hero 10 Black Bones' streamlined design enables it to be mounted on an FPV drone. Until now, FPV pilots had to strip down a GoPro or other action cam themselves to get the weight down to reduce the impact on drone performance and battery life when attached. Also, the smaller and lighter the camera, the smaller the drone can be. The Hero 10 Black Bones is only 54 grams (1.9 ounces), which, while not as light as a completely naked GoPro, is light enough to mount on a 3-inch cinewhoop FPV drone such as the Diatone Taycan. The camera components are housed in a well-ventilated enclosure, which means it'll stay cool while still being more protected than a GoPro that's stripped of its original waterproof casing. And like the regular Hero 10 Black, the Bones has a replaceable lens cover that can also be swapped for third-party ND filters. The only controls on the camera are two buttons on the back. However, it can be controlled with the mobile Quik app, GoPro Labs QR controls, GoPro's wireless remote or even a drone transmitter.
READ THE STORY: CNET
US Navy to Deploy Four Cargo Drones on an Aircraft Carrier this Year
FROM THE MEDIA: A quartet of logistics drones capable of carrying up to 50-pound payloads will embark on a U.S. aircraft carrier later this year to see if the unmanned aerial vehicles are practical at sea. The test, led by the experimentation and prototyping division at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), is a response to Military Sealift Command and Naval Air Forces Atlantic seeking a faster way to send critical parts to warships underway. The service has found that 90 percent of critical mission failures for systems underway can be repaired with a payload fewer than 20 pounds, which is well within the capacity of several commercial unmanned aerial systems. “Say you have a little component on a radar, it’s broke on an Aegis-class ship. We can now use an unmanned system to go from the big deck – whether it’s an MSC ship or from the carrier – out to a small boy in a relatively short amount of time and we’re not having to reschedule and recycle a helo,” Tony Schmidt, director of rapid prototyping, experimentation and demonstration at NAWCAD, told USNI News last week at the Navy League’s annual Sea-Air-Space symposium.
“Instead of waiting for the next day to send the helicopter, or for the next [underway replenishment], we can get that capability out literally within hours.”
READ THE STORY: USNI
Ukrainian Aid Group Turning to Drones to Ferry Medical Supplies
FROM THE MEDIA: A Ukrainian relief agency is eagerly awaiting delivery this week of a Draganfly Medical Response Drone it intends to use to transport vital medical supplies, such as antibiotics and insulin, to field hospitals in wartorn areas of southern and eastern Ukraine. The delivery is part of a fleet of medical response and search and rescue drones headed into Ukraine and provided by Draganfly and Coldchain Delivery Systems to Revived Soldiers Ukraine (RSU), an organization focused on providing a humanitarian response to those left injured amid the ongoing Russia’s invasion. RSU expects to receive the medical response drone—the first of an initial donation of three—and begin operations by the end of this week ferrying medical supplies into Russian occupied areas, the organization’s president and founder Iryna Vashchuk Discipio told FLYING. The relief agency anticipates it will receive two Draganfly search-and-rescue drones next week. Those drones will be used to try to find the location of civilians in occupied areas, she said.
READ THE STORY: Flying Mag
Embattled Ukraine Seeks to Buy Advanced Drones from General Atomics
FROM THE MEDIA: Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States has reportedly met with officials of San Diego-based General Atomics to seek sophisticated drones to aid in her country’s battle with Russia. The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Oksana Markarov met last week with representatives from General Atomics, the maker of the iconic Predator drone. “Together with our team, we discussed with General Atomics the prospects of increasing the capacity of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the current situation in Ukraine,” Markarova told the Post. The newspaper did not report what specific weapons were discussed, but General Atomics supplies the Air Force with the Reaper and the Army with the Gray Eagle, both upgraded versions of the Predator. According to the report, General Atomics confirmed that it has aircraft ready to transfer immediately if approved to do so. Ukraine has used less-sophisticated Turkish-made drones to destroy numerous Russian vehicles during the war. The United States is already supply Ukraine with small Switchblade drones that can be armed with explosives and flown into targets, Stinger antiaircraft missiles, and Javelin anti-tank missiles.
READ THE STORY: Times Of San Diego
Air Force positions autonomous drones, networked weapon systems as top priorities
FROM THE MEDIA: The Air Force is asking Congress for more than $100 million in additional R&D funding for autonomous drones and networked weapon systems as the Pentagon pursues more cost-effective ways to match up against China. The technology is a top priority for Air Force leaders as they look toward the future operating environment and fiscal constraints that will limit the number of manned planes that the service can buy for Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) and other programs. “On its current trajectory, the tactical Air Force is not affordable. The crewed fighters we plan to acquire — F-35, F-15EX and the NGAD platform — are all too costly to fill out our needed force structure as legacy aircraft retire,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said in March at the annual Air Warfare Symposium. Speaking at McAleese FY2023 Defense Programs Conference, also in March, Kendall said: “We’ve got to figure out a way to get the capacity, the quantity of capabilities that we need. … You need numbers, particularly if you’re in a situation where you can expect attrition and you need the ability to expand as necessary to deal with the threats. And the higher end, more expensive airplanes are not going to get you there.” A solution to the problem, officials say, is drones and networked weapon systems. The Air Force needs a crewed platform “teamed with a much less expensive autonomous uncrewed combat aircraft, employing a distributed tailorable mix of sensors, weapons and other mission equipment operating as a team or formation,” Kendall said.
READ THE STORY: FedScoop
Delivery Drones Are Flying, But Your Airborne Groceries Are Still a Long Way Off
FROM THE MEDIA: Drone delivery has finally arrived, at least on a small scale. Packages containing lightweight products, such as medicines and COVID tests, are being dropped off at some limited locations, years after consumers were first teased with such a service. Back in December of 2020, the FAA issued rules for companies wanting to use drones for deliveries paving the way for Amazon and others to take to the skies. Since then, Walmart has been using drones for deliveries in Arkansas and in North Carolina while Wing , a unit of Google owner Alphabet, has been delivering a host of products in Virginia and Texas from coffee to Mexican food to medications from Walgreens. Amazon, the company that kicked off the drone delivery craze in 2013, is still testing its devices. Currently none of these companies are fully certified by the FDA to fly anywhere in the country, according to the Wall Street Journal. And per FDA rules drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), must have a human controlling or monitoring them. All seems good so far, but it’s not clear what will happens when a behemoth like Amazon, which promises to eventually deliver some 500 million packages by drone a year, takes flight. The company plans to begin its drone deliveries in the fall.
READ THE STORY: Observer
Items of interest
Ukrainian Soldier Find A ‘Cannon’ Inside A Russian Orlan-10 Drone; Calls It Moscow’s ‘Cosmic Technology’ (Video)
FROM THE MEDIA: The Ukrainian defense ministry posted a video of a soldier dismantling a Russian military surveillance drone, alleging that the drone had several unsophisticated features. In a video released to Twitter on Sunday, a soldier can be seen dismantling what the ministry claims are an Orlan-10 drone that crashed on Ukrainian soil. The soldier is first seen in the video pointing out that the drone’s camera is a standard portable Canon DSLR with the main navigation button taped down to prevent it from unintentionally switching modes. The soldier then explains that the camera was fixed in place by a strip of adhesive tape. The soldier goes on to say that the fuel tank cap on the drone is believed to be fabricated from the top and lid of a plastic water bottle. The drone was also wrapped in duct tape in several spots, according to the clip.
DIY BEGINNER'S GUIDE to 3D Printed Drones (Video)
FROM THE MEDIA: Beginner's video to 3d printing fpv race drones by Justin Davis of Drone Camps RC. The complete all in one guide with flying examples included.
About this Product
These open source products are reviewed from analysts at InfoDom Securities and provide possible context about current media trends in regard to the realm of cyber security. The stories selected cover a broad array of cyber threats and are intended to aid readers in framing key publicly discussed threats and overall situational awareness. InfoDom Securities does not specifically endorse any third-party claims made in their original material or related links on their sites, and the opinions expressed by third parties are theirs alone. Contact InfoDom Securities at dominanceinformation@gmail.com