Friday, March 25, 2022 // (IG): BB //Weekly Sponsor: DiyGarage SoCal
Drone operators, technology help boost law enforcement, city services
FROM THE MEDIA: When an 11-year-old went missing in Pitt County in February, Amelia Frasure took to the skies to help find her. Frasure is a drone operator for the Greenville Police Department, a job that is on the cutting edge of how technology is saving lives and improving capabilities in law enforcement and other services provided by the city. “One of our main goals is searching for missing people, enhancing safety for the public and enhancing officer safety,” said Frasure, a three-year veteran with the department who recently became the drone program’s coordinator and technology officer. Frasure and three more of the department’s operators deployed drones to help the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office search for a missing girl east of the city. Her team was tasked with searching a 1,000-acre area that had a combination of houses, outbuildings, open fields and wooded areas. Using digital maps to divide the area into grids, a drone with thermal imaging equipment was launched. When a human-like image appeared, drones with spotlights were sent in so the searchers could verify what they were seeing, she said.
READ THE STORY: Reflector
Drones, thermal scanners scour China crash site
FROM THE MEDIA: Recovery teams deployed drones and thermal imaging equipment on Thursday across a mountainous area where a China Eastern plane inexplicably crashed with 132 people on board. Four days after flight MU5735 ploughed into rugged terrain near Wuzhou in southern China, officials are still yet to declare all of the 123 passengers and nine crew dead. More human remains have been found, officials confirmed on Thursday, but the velocity of a crash which punched a crater into the muddy ground and scattered plane parts and passenger belongings across a wide area, has complicated recovery work. “Most of the aircraft wreckage is concentrated in a core area within a radius of about 30 meters from the main impact point,” Zhu Tao of China’s aviation authority told reporters.
READ THE STORY: DAWN
Modi seeks to foster Indian rivals to DJI with drone import ban
FROM THE MEDIA: Chinese companies like DJI Technology have led the way in developing versatile, low-cost drones that have become must-have items around the world in industries ranging from agriculture to media. However, the U.S. and other governments worried that Chinese-made drones might pose a security threat are increasingly putting limits on their sale or cutting off technology supplies to the manufacturers. This is giving Indian policymakers ideas. In rapid succession last month, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled new tax incentives and subsidies for drone manufacturing and sales, another agency banned imports of completed drones, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the dispatch of 100 locally made pesticides-spraying drones to different parts of the country. "This occasion is the best example of how far the country can fly if policies are drafted with the right spirit," Modi said at the event. "India is poised to witness the emergence of new leadership in the drone sector," Modi said. "More than 200 drone startups are currently working in the country and soon their numbers will increase to 1,000 which will create huge job opportunities."
READ THE STORY: Asia Nikkei
VSR700 autonomous take-off and landing capabilities tested at sea
FROM THE MEDIA: Airbus Helicopters has begun trialing autonomous take-off and landing capabilities at sea for the VSR700, an unmanned aerial system (UAS) being developed in the frame of the SDAM (Système de drone aérien de la Marine) program, conducted by the DGA (Direction générale de l’Armement – the French Armament General Directorate) for the French Navy. Trials were conducted using an optionally piloted vehicle (OPV) based on a modified Guimbal Cabri G2 equipped with the autonomous take-off and landing (ATOL) system developed for the VSR700. This flight test campaign paves the way for the upcoming demonstration of the VSR700, at sea, onboard a French Navy frigate. “These tests in real-life conditions constitute a crucial step towards the campaign that we will conduct at sea with the DGA and the French Navy later this year,” explained Nicolas Delmas, head of the VSR700 program for Airbus Helicopters. “Using the OPV, we have demonstrated the unique autonomous take-off and landing capabilities of the VSR700. We have also proved the optimal functioning of the vehicle and its command station interface on board a vessel in realistic conditions.”
READ THE STORY: Verticalmag
Communication Is Key: How Army’s Own Upcoming Satellite GSAT 7B Will Give Fresh Wings to Its UAVs
FROM THE MEDIA: The indigenous communication satellite for the Army, GSAT 7B, when launched, will majorly benefit the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the force’s inventory by ensuring they have an enhanced flying range in line with their original specifications, top defense sources told News18. At present, the flying range of the UAVs is restricted since they are controlled by a ground station, which is usually at the line of sight. Defense sources explained that they fly in tandem, which means one unmanned aerial vehicle in the air is controlled by a ground station and a second UAV flying, for instance, is controlled by the first. “When the Army gets its own communication satellite, the UAVs will be able to fly as per their original specifications, since this satellite can provide secure, encrypted communication to them. This will aid in enhancing the operational reach of the UAVs,” a defense source told News18. News18 first reported in September last year that India has bought four new Israeli Heron TP drones. They and other Heron TPs in the Armed Forces’ inventory will be upgraded with advanced satellite communication and sensors for longer surveillance and reconnaissance missions, aside from being armed with air-to-ground missiles and laser-guided munitions for precision strikes, under the planned Project Cheetah.
READ THE STORY: News 18
Alphabet’s Wing Hires CFO as It Expands Drone-Delivery Business
FROM THE MEDIA: Alphabet Inc.’s Wing unit tapped Shannon Nash as chief financial officer, bolstering its management ranks as the business looks to expand its drone-delivery operations. Wing, which calls itself the world’s largest residential drone delivery service, confirmed the move Thursday. Nash previously served as CFO of Reputation.com Inc., a company that helps corporate customers manage their public image. “Shannon is a seasoned executive who has deep expertise in finance, law and global strategy, and has decades of experience helping companies grow and scale rapidly,” Wing said in a statement. The move follows the hiring of a new chief executive officer, Adam Woodworth, who previously served as chief technology officer. For now, the company does most of its business in Australia. In the first two months of 2022, it completed over 30,000 deliveries in the country. Wing is vying with Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Air and United Parcel Service Inc. to reinvent delivery services with flying drones. But with U.S. regulators still devising rules for the new technology, the industry is still in its early stages.
READ THE STORY: BNN Bloomberg
Skye Air demonstrates its Drone Technology to the World at Expo 2020
FROM THE MEDIA: Indian Drone Delivery start-up, Skye Air, which recently achieved a benchmark of 1000+ flights has demonstrated its drone technology to the World at the India Pavilion, Expo 2020, Dubai. Drone delivery start up will showcase Indian-made drones at International Diaspora. It will be exhibiting its cutting-edge technology at the Expo 2020, Dubai from March 24th to March 31st, 2022. Skye Air will be exhibiting its flagship “Skye Ship One”. It has the load capacity of 25 kg with speed of 35 km/hour and covers a distance of 20 Kms (aerial) on a single charge. Commenting on Skye Air showcasing its Drone Delivery tech at the India Pavilion, Expo 2022, Ankit Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, Skye Air said, “It’s a proud moment that we are here in the UAE at the India Pavilion showcasing a technology developed by Indian engineers to and for the world. The vision at Skye Air is to enable faster, efficient and cost effective logistics for our clients across the world. We have started with India and after having complete over 1000+ flights, this gives us confidence to bring the similar services in UAE and other markets. During the next few days, we shall also be conducting numerous awareness activities at the India Pavilion around Drone Delivery.
READ THE STORY: Techno Sports
DJI’s Matrice 30 Enterprise Can Fly in Heavy Rain, Snow
FROM THE MEDIA: DJI has been relentless with its impressive releases as of late, shipping a high-performing first person view (FPV) drone around this time last year and the highly-anticipated Mavic 3 in January. But DJI seems to have done it again with the Matrice 30, a new commercial drone made to be environmentally adaptable and more durable than any of its predecessors. The Matrice 30 (M30) and its thermal imaging-capable sibling, the M30 T, are made for heavy use by enterprise-level operators. The M30 possesses redundancy systems like dual flight control system sensors, dual control signal links, dual intelligent batteries, dual transmission links, and obstacle sensor system redundancies in case of failure, and the drone’s three-propeller emergency landing feature works to prevent significant damage. At 8.2 pounds, it’s relatively lightweight despite its tenacity, and it can be folded for easy travel. DJI’s “most advanced drone” title previously went to the M300 RTK, a $13,000 device boasting advanced AI capabilities and a tough build. But despite having operated effectively in a downpour in some marketing materials, DJI itself has said not to fly the M300 RTK in heavy rain or snow—a major roadblock for operators who may need to be able to use a drone in harsh conditions. In contrast, the M30 is made to withstand temperatures from -20°C to 50°C (-4°F to 122°F), resist 15 m/s winds, and endure heavy precipitation. Its 7-inch widescreen DJI RC Plus controller and dock (the latter of which can communicate up to 7km away) are also made to withstand such conditions, making it reliable when and where other drone models wouldn’t be.
READ THE STORY: Extremetech
‘India must speed up drone technology development’
FROM THE MEDIA: In the wake of the Ukraine-Russia war, India will have to accelerate the pace of development of drone technology in the country because drones will play a key role in any future wars, a top government official said on Thursday.
“First Azerbaijan and then now Ukraine have been a great eye opener. When we fight the next war, whenever that happens, we will have to fight our own war and nobody in this world is going to fight for us, and that next war will be decided by drones,” said Amber Dubey, joint secretary, ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) during a panel discussion on ‘Making India a global drone hub by 2030: Issues & way forward’ on the opening day of Wings India 2022. He pointed out that by 2030, Indian drone players must try to capture 95% of the domestic market and 20-25% of the global market.
“For our own stupidity, we are 40-50 years behind the mighty Americans & Europeans and 20-25 years behind the Chinese and the gap is only increasing… that has to be covered as soon as possible…,” he said, adding that the Centre has initiated certain reforms and initiatives such as PLI (production linked incentive) scheme to boost the industry’s growth.
READ THE STORY: Times of India
Turkey asks NATO allies to end embargoes against defense industry
FROM THE MEDIA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on NATO allies on Friday to lift sanctions on Ankara's defense industry. Speaking to the media after attending a special NATO summit in Brussels, Erdogan said it was in the alliance's "joint interests... to remove restrictions that have been put on our defense industry by some of the allies". "I shared my expectations with the leaders. Veiled or open embargoes shouldn't even be a topic among the allies," he said. Erdogan added Turkish defense industry products were proving successful, a veiled reference to Turkish armed drones such as the Bayraktar TB2, which has been lauded as a game-changer in Ukraine following Russia's invasion. Turkey is believed to have sold more than 20 TB2s to Kyiv before the war began. Some experts believe the number of TB2s in the Ukrainian arsenal could be even higher. Before Russia's invasion, Turkish officials believed the drones could be effective against the Russian military. They pointed to the TB2s' record of destroying various Russian-made weapons in Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh. TB2s were used by Turkey's ally Azerbaijan during its 44-day war with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh. Last year, Canada cancelled export permits for drone technology to Turkey after a government review found that Canadian-made systems had been used by Azerbaijan. Since then, Turkey’s main drone suppliers, Baykar and TAI, haven't been able to import Canadian producer Wescam's electro-optical (EO) and infrared (IR) cameras for their armed and unarmed drones.
READ THE STORY: Middle East Eye
“He was armed…”. The secret of the drone crash that worries Europe
FROM THE MEDIA: Fortunately, the car crash did not cause any injuries, even if a crater about 3 meters in diameter was created and at least forty cars parked near the ground were damaged. A collision that was not followed by a fire, which immediately led to the suspicion that the drone had crashed because it had run out of fuel. The first survey documented that it should have been a Tu-141, Soviet-made but supplied for Ukrainian army. It was suspected that the same medium was coming from Ukraine. Croatian President Zoran Milanovic which expressed alarm at the episode, about the need to invest funds to allocate them to the country’s air defense system. “I have already drawn attention to the shortcomings of our air defense system, and now is the time to start developing it, and quickly, even if such a thing is unlikely to happen again.” announced. “We’ve seen all the shortcomings that exist and the fact that we can count on NATO, but that’s the decision we’re making.”
READ THE STORY: WireService
Items of interest
Evolution of Drone Warfare on the modern battlefield(Video)
From balloons over ancient cities in 1850 to the USAF MQ-9 Reaper UAV: humans have always been fascinated with autonomous war machines. The US is developing a five kilowatt laser Mobile High Energy Laser gun which can shoot down UAVs from miles away. It also has electronic warfare equipment that can jam a UAVs signal and crash it. They took out dozens of drones in their tests
Orlan-10 UAV, Best Air Reconnaissance Drone Against Ukrainian Military Positions(Video)
FROM THE MEDIA: Russian military introduced an aerial surveillance drone, Orlan-10 UAV, which provides the best intelligence on events on the ground against the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This is not the first time, drones are operating in Ukraine, meaning the Orlan-10 has a strong capacity to find targets, and allows ground forces strategy to eliminate large amounts of military equipment and enemy manpower without loss. Developed by Special Technology Center (STC) in Saint Petersburg and operated by Russian artillery units to enable them to search their convoy of logistical vehicles for possible ambushes by Ukrainian military. Orlan-10 usually flies at low altitudes to evade the massive Ukrainian missile system that has taken a toll on Russian jets. Tactical reconnaissance drones present a challenge for Ukraine, even a no-fly zone.
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