Saturday, March 19, 2022 // (IG): BB //Weekly Sponsor: DiyGarage SoCal
Ukraine wants DJI to ground its drones used by Russia in the country
FROM THE MEDIA: Using geofencing technology implemented into its products several years ago, DJI can control where its drones can fly throughout the world. In 2017, DJI implemented a no-fly zone for its drones over most of Iraq and Syria, preventing them from being re-purposed by combatants to deliver lethal payloads during battle. DJI also uses geofencing to restrict flight over sensitive areas such as airports, military bases, and prisons. Vice-PM Fedorov believes DJI drones are being used by Russian troops to navigate missiles toward civilian targets and has implored DJI founder Frank Wank to help stop them. Fedorov also believes Russia is utilizing AeroScope, another DJI product, to identify and target Ukrainian DJI drone pilots. "We kindly ask you to provide us with information regarding: 1. The number of functioning DJI products in Ukraine, their ID, where and when they were purchased and activated; 2. The map (on regions of Ukraine) of functioning DJI products in Ukraine; 3: Is there a problem with activating a new DJI product in Ukraine?" Fedorov wrote in his letter. DJI has since responded, claiming it can only enforce a no-fly zone for all the drones in Ukraine if the government formally requests geofencing be set up. The no-fly zone would not distinguish between Russian and Ukrainian-operated drones, nor would it eliminate the possibility of individual users circumventing the geofencing software.
READ THE STORY: Tweaktown
The "kamikaze" drones the U.S. is giving to Ukraine
FROM THE MEDIA: Switchblade drones are among the military support items President Biden announced yesterday in an $800 million package for Ukraine. Why it matters: Unlike the large drones the U.S. military uses for reconnaissance and deploying weapons against targets, these tiny Switchblades are themselves the weapon. Why are Switchblade drones called "kamikaze drones"? The Switchblade drones are sometimes called "kamikaze drones" because they act as single-use, remote-controlled bombs.
READ THE STORY: Axios
DJI Has the Power to Control Where Drones Can Fly. Ukraine Wants Them to Use It.
FROM THE MEDIA: Geofencing and drone detection technologies developed in peacetime in part to comply with regulations allow the company to create no fly zones. Should DJI use them in Ukraine? Ukraine is asking Chinese drone manufacturer DJI to stop doing business with Russia. Because of how DJI drones work, the company has the technical capability to control where and when its products are flown because of “geofencing” technology it implemented several years ago. In 2017, DJI, which makes some of the world’s most popular drones, implemented a no-fly zone (for DJI drones) over much of Iraq and Syria, ostensibly because ISIS was jury rigging DJI drones to use in attacks and war there. It did this with a technology called geofencing, in which software embedded in the drone prevents it from taking off or flying in certain geographic areas. DJI’s no-fly zones have also been implemented over specific sensitive areas throughout the world, such as prisons, military bases, and large swaths of Washington, D.C.
READ THE STORY: VICE
Drones set for revolutionary flight path
FROM THE MEDIA: The information superhighway is the dated term for the internet in the 1990s, but a “drone superhighway” being touted for the UK is best compared to the advent of the railway network 200 years ago, according to its leading proponent. Richard Parker, CEO and founder of Altitude Angel, which aims to provide air traffic control software for such a corridor, claims Britain is at the forefront of a second transport revolution with “the skills and ambition to open our skies to safe and secure drone and air-taxi flights “. A government advisory committee report in November on the industry’s potential concurred. It said there was “a real opportunity for the UK to assume a global technology lead on drones, but, more significantly, . . . put the right regulatory framework in place that becomes the standard across the world “. The regulator, in the shape of the Civil Aviation Authority, has been cautious to date. It has allowed “sandbox” trials, such as last year permitting West Sussex-based drone company Sees.ai to begin operating regular flights beyond the pilot’s line of sight at three locations in the UK. Altitude Angel has been testing its detect and avoid (DAA) technology in a five-mile zone near Reading in Berkshire, but is hoping for the green light from the government this month on a far more ambitious project. The world’s largest and longest network of “drone superhighways” would link towns and cities across the English Midlands with the south-east and those along the south coast, covering 165 miles.
READ THE STORY: FT (turn off java to bypass)
RUSSIA MAY HAVE USED TERRIFYING AI-POWERED “SUICIDE DRONES” IN UKRAINE
FROM THE MEDIA: Pictures being shared online show what appear to be destroyed, Russian-made “suicide drones” that deploy artificial intelligence to identify their targets, Wired reports. Experts are outraged, arguing the use of “killer robots” like these is against internationally agreed-upon rules about what can or cannot be used on the battlefield. In this case, allowing algorithms to make decisions over who gets to live or die is what’s at issue. “The notion of a killer robot — where you have artificial intelligence fused with weapons — that technology is here, and it’s being used,” Zachary Kallenborn, a research affiliate with the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, told Wired.
READ THE STORY: Futurism
Sky-Drones aren’t part of a complete drone solution: we ARE the solution
FROM THE MEDIA: Creating a “complete drone solution” has been a major focus for solution providers over the past few years. There’s a good reason for that, as the challenges associated with properly integrating drone electronics, software (including custom algorithms), ground control stations, flight control systems and advanced communication systems are simply too much for many users. Those logistics are secondary to the way in which certain operators and organizations might define that complete drone solution, with very different expectations and needs. That’s partly why Sky-Drones has established, to the highest standard in the UAV industry, a full-stack UAV control and flight planning system, ground control station and analytics software for data capture from flights and payloads. Rather than sort through such philosophical and logistical issues, operators and organizations can focus their efforts on the outcomes they’re trying to achieve rather than the technology they’re trying to integrate. We’re proud to be able to offer that complete drone solution for use in the commercial market, but doing so is about much more than technology. It’s about making connections that enable entire ecosystems across teams, organizations and entire industries.
READ THE STORY: Commercial UAV News
Pesticide spraying drones to increase Turkish farmers’ income
FROM THE MEDIA: Exhibited at an agricultural expo in Diyarbakir, a drone has received a lot of attention from farmers because it promises less water, gas and pesticide use. A drone developed to spray pesticide on agricultural fields was introduced during the 13th Mesopotamia Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Fair. The fair began on March 15 and will run through March 19, 2022 in Diyarbakir, in southeastern Türkiye. The expo brought together farmers with technological innovations and opportunities for the agriculture industry. One of the most noteworthy items in the fair is a drone that was built for spraying agricultural pesticides. Visitors showed a lot of interest in the booth showcasing the drone and received information on it. The general manager of the company that distributes the drone, Ugur Turk, tells Anadolu Agency that they have been researching the best technological products to offer Turkish farmers. Turk added that they import drones as well as unmanned ground vehicles that are used for pesticide distribution on fields.
READ THE STORY: TRTworld
Israeli Technology Advances to Fight Iranian Drone Threat
FROM THE MEDIA: Israel and other Middle East countries are fighting an increasingly critical war against UAVs or drones launched by Iran and its proxies in the region. As it adapts to the threats, Israel is now a world leader in fighting this menace. In March 2021, two Israeli F-35i jet squadrons scrambled to intercept two Iranian drones heading for Israel. The mission and its successful conclusion were only revealed to journalists recently. And while it didn’t make headlines or the nightly news, it did make history. “This is a historic milestone for the Israeli Air Force that is a leader in the world and carried out the first UAV interception with a F35 aircraft and as such, we truly stand at the forefront of the operational activity,” said Colonel “N”, Head of the Cooperation Division and Commander of the F-35i 116th squadron ‘Lions of the South’ at the time of the interception. Historic, and yet crucial for Israel’s future survival, it was dubbed ‘Two Bridges’, and marked the first use of the F35I’s in this way. “Defending the skies of Israel is the first mission every pilot learns to carry out and this was exactly the mission we took off for,” said Major “G”, Deputy Commander of F-35i 116th Squadron “Lions of the South.”
READ THE STORY: CBN
Elon Musk’s Starlink helping Ukraine to win the drone war
FROM THE MEDIA: Elon Musk's Starlink satellite system is helping Ukrainian forces win the drone war as they use the technology in their effort to track and kill invading Russians. In the vanguard of Ukraine's astonishingly effective military effort against Vladimir Putin's forces is a unit called Aerorozvidka (Aerial Reconnaissance) which is using surveillance and attack drones to target Russian tanks and positions. Amid internet and power outages, which are expected to get worse, Ukraine is turning to the newly available Starlink system for some of its communications. Drone teams in the field, sometimes in badly connected rural areas, are able to use Starlink to connect them to targeters and intelligence on their battlefield database. They can direct the drones to drop anti-tank munitions, sometimes flying up silently to Russian forces at night as they sleep in their vehicles. PD-1 unmanned aerial vehicles, which have a wingspan of 10ft and are fitted with infrared sensors, are also used to collect information on Russian troop movements. The Kremlin has responded furiously to the involvement of Starlink in Ukraine. Dmitry Rogozin, director general of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, said: "This is the West that we should never trust. When Russia implements its highest national interests on the territory of Ukraine, Elon Musk appears with his Starlink which was previously declared as purely civilian. "I warned about it, but our "muskophiles" said he is the light of world cosmonautics. Here, look, he has chosen the side."
READ THE STORY: Telegraph
Hoverfly Brains Mapped To Detect the Sound of Distant Drones
FROM THE MEDIA: For the first time, Australian researchers have reverse engineered the visual systems of hoverflies to develop drones capable of detecting other drones' acoustic signatures from almost four kilometers away. The research was published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. Autonomous systems experts from the University of South Australia (UniSA), Flinders University and defense company Midspar Systems say that trials using bio-inspired signal processing techniques show up to a 50 percent better detection rate than existing methods. Hoverflies have a superior vision that can detect visual signs in complex landscapes. The researchers worked under the assumption that the same processes which allow small visual targets to be seen amongst visual clutter could be redeployed to extract low volume acoustic signatures from drones buried in noise. By converting acoustic signals into two-dimensional 'images' (called spectrograms), researchers used the neural pathway of the hoverfly brain to suppress unrelated signals and noise, increasing the detection range for the sounds they wanted to detect.
READ THE STORY: AAWSAT
AI Software and Drones Keep Marathoners Safe
FROM THE MEDIA: Without knowing it, the 40,000 runners at the 2022 Tel Aviv Samsung Marathon in February experienced a new way to keep them safe: a network of multiple patrolling and three tethered drones. The UAS came in different makes and models, from personal drones operated by individual police officers to large industrial ones such as the DJI Matrice 300 RTK. What united the network was the Airwayz Drones’ Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) software that collected and analyzed data using AI to ensure safe operation in the urban environment. Airwayz, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based company founded in 2018, first used its software to aid Israeli authorities in a search and rescue mission during the Gaza operation, when drones were deployed to search for casualties among the debris. “Dynamic UTM enabled different kinds of authorities to operate together, just seemingly helped them gain more control in real time, and have them optimize the operation,” said Eyal Zor, CEO and co-founder of Airwayz. As the company’s second major collaboration with Israeli agencies, the marathon was supervised and coordinated by Ayalon Highways, an Israel-based company that specializes in infrastructures, mass transit and shared transit systems, from its Command Centre in Tel Aviv. For the marathon, Airwayz had prepared for two main issues: harsh weather and unauthorized drone usage by members of the audience. Both scenarios came true. Although the rain started close to the end of the event, non-weather-proof UAS had to be grounded. And police officers tracked down users of the additional drones detected. “From our point of view, it was really not only successful to the standards we wanted it to achieve, but entirely for us to prove the concept to see that the entire chain of control and command and the possibilities from all sides moved forward,” Zor said.
READ THE STORY: Inside Unmanned Systems
Items of interest
The Prepper Drone: DJI + Dronelink for SHTF Surveillance(Video)
There are a few Latin phrases that speak perfectly to the prepping lifestyle. Probably the most applicable is “Praemonitus praemunitus,” which transliterates roughly to “forewarned is forearmed.” Essentially, it means that having advanced warning gives you a tactical advantage. The better your situational awareness, the more informed your decisions can be and the more likely you are to maintain your safety and security. In a crisis event, using unconventional methods to increase your situational awareness and information-gathering abilities may become a necessity. What was that explosion? Was it a fuel tanker blast or a terrorist attack? Is the smoke toxic and which way is it blowing? How is it affecting my prearranged evacuation routes? Sometimes, those key questions can be answered quickly by Google or your local TV news station. But what if the grid’s down or you can’t get a mobile phone connection? This is where the use of a personal unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) comes into play. We’re not talking about the big military drones that look like scaled-down fighter jets seeing hard use in the Middle East and around the world right now. Rather, we mean the thriving market of smaller drones that are more easily set up in any off-grid scenario. (source)
This drone-mounted RPG(Video)
FROM THE MEDIA: The Belarusian military shared a video on May 27 showing a drone-mounted anti-tank rocket launcher being showcased for army officials. The rocket launcher appears to be an RPG-26 Aglen, supported by a four-rotor rig. The demonstration took place at the Losvido training ground in the country’s Vitebsk region on May 18, according to Defense Blog.
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