The Speaker » Emerging Trends

FAA Holding Back US Drone Industry, While Drone Market Expected to Double to Yearly $11.6bn in 10 Years – Report

The Speaker — Sun, 20 Jul 2014 19:54:14 +0000

While the current global market for drones is expected to double to 11.6bn by 2023, America will most likely lose its current industry lead to other nations less hampered by export control regulations and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules, according to a recent report by Stimson Center. “At the moment, the United States has the world’ largest and most sophisticated fleet of weaponized drones,” the report stated, adding that regarding the more general global UAV market, “the United States is not likely to remain the world leader in the development of innovative UAV technologies.” The report, “Recommendations and Report of the Task Force on US Drone Policy,” was completed by the Washington global security policy organization Stimson Center and was written by Gen. John P. Abizaid, a former commander of the US Central Command, and Rosa Brooks, professor at Georgetown University Law Center. The report stated that despite the enormous commercial potential of civilian UAVs, their development–especially among small- and medium-sized enterprises–was hampered by “clumsy export control rules” and FAA regulations. Export control rules in the US are ambiguous, the report explained, not clearly drawing a distinction between “unarmed military unmanned aerial vehicles” and other unarmed drones, while subjecting military vehicles to stricter export controls. This prevents manufacturers from measuring the size of their markets, “chilling” their production, according to the report. Another hindrance to UAV development is that drones operation is not allowed in the “national airspace system” (NAS). Where drones are flown, special permits are required, which, according to the report, are often quite restrictive. Laws are changing with regards to drones. The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, which seeks to integrate UAVs into the national airspace system, has a deadline set for September 2015. The Act required, however, a roadmap for integration, which was requested of the FAA to be produced by February 2013. The FAA released the roadmap nine months behind the deadline. “The FAA is grappling with important and difficult issues,” stated the report. Notable among these difficulties is determination of how UAV pilots will avoid air collisions without lines of sight and situational awareness. The concern raised in the report is that the FAA’s months-long delays may become years-long delays, and the US may lose the initiative. Meanwhile, UAV developers have awaited government clarity while markets abroad have expanded rapidly, and foreign buyers turn increasingly to countries developing more advanced platforms. “Outside of the United States,” the report read, “UAVs increasingly are being developed for agriculture, weather tracking and infrastructure maintenance.” “This could chill innovation and dull the technological edge the United States enjoys in the UAV arena, with negative consequences both for the civilian sector and for the military,” the report read. The US may also lose the ability to shape UAV use abroad, according to the report, while some markets are expected to be used for non-peaceful purposes. Read more: Over 20 Countries Developing Weaponized Drones “The state that becomes the ‘first-mover’ to fully integrate UAVs into their national airspace may, if given enough of a lead, become a center for the development and scale of UAVs, giving a competitive edge to its domestic manufacturers.”

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First Vehicle-Mounted Drone-Killing Laser Made Public

The Speaker — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 02:29:53 +0000

The first publicly demonstrated drone-killing laser was mounted to a US battleship in 2012. Since then, power-source challenges have been overcome to the degree that the lasers can now be mounted on personal vehicles. The purpose of laser weapons as a defense against drones is that while more conventional weapons can take down nearby drones, distant and fast moving drones are difficult to hit with metal projectiles. Drone-killing lasers fire in bursts. The burst burns through the surface layers of the drone. The ADAM laser mounted on the battleship was capable of 50 kilowatt power, and the new 400-pound vehicle-mounted lasers are capable of 30 KW when the vehicles are stationary and 10 KW while the vehicles is driving. Twenty minutes are required to charge the laser to 80 percent power, although the remaining 20 percent takes much longer to achieve. The ADAM laser has since been demonstrated as capable of damaging small ships. The new lasers are considered to be able to bring viable drone-defense to most of the world. Read more: Over 20 Countries Developing Weaponized Drones Laser weapons–also called beam weapons–are also useful in missile defense systems, because photon beams are much faster than any ICBM propulsion.

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500 American Communities Are Now Armed With Military Tanks and Military Vehicles, and Have Reportedly Lied on Their Applications to Get Them for Free

The Speaker — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 04:24:01 +0000

Military surplus equipment, including vehicles–most familiarly the Mine-Resistant Ambush-Proof (MRAP) BearCat–are becoming common tools of community law enforcement in the US. These battlefield tools are now owned by over 500 communities nationwide. At a cost of around half a million dollars each vehicle–although the first one is often free–police departments seek grants by applying for various federal programs–applications council members have admittedly lied on. BearCats are heavily-fortified MRAP vehicles usually used by specialized military tactical teams. The vehicles are build to withstand mines and bombs in combat zones. They are equipped to be mounted with weapons the US military specifically refrains from using on people–and sometimes come equipped with these weapons, such as the belt-fed, .50 caliber turreted machine gun atop Richland County, South Carolina’s “Peacemaker.” Columbia Police Department SWAT Commander Captain E.M. Marsh, who received a new $658,000-valued MRAP for free before Veterans Day last year, said around 500 similar vehicles went to agencies around the country. Five hundred vehicles at that price adds up to $329 million of tax-funded Department of Defense (DOD) spending. In 2013, the US government is considering requests from 750 additional communities, according to the Wall Street Journal. According to Mark Wright, spokesman for the Defense Department, the Pentagon is planning to give away 11,000 MRAPS, each of which is priced at between $400,000 and $700,000 new, and there is “vigorous interest” from police departments, commented Wright. Approximately 100 BearCats are distributed to local police departments per year, and many of the buyers are recipients of federal grants from the US Justice Department, the Defense Department, and the Homeland Security Department. Cities and towns governments aren’t the only organizations interested in military vehicles. In 2013, Ohio State University also acquired a MRAP. The possession of military vehicles and weapons by police has struck some as a highly visual manifestation of government waste, and critics have made various complaints, including unnecessarily maintaining defense industry profits, lack of public oversight, militarization of law enforcement, and contributing to the growth of SWAT and military technology. The backlash against police militarization has taken the form of legislation in New Hampshire–a state in which there are already 11 communities with armored vehicles–where a bill was introduced in February in response to the Concord City Council accepting a $258,000 federal grant to buy a BearCat. The council voted in favor of the grant despite intense opposition from their citizens, who submitted a 1,500-signature petition and staged a rally outside City Hall in protest. The bill would ban municipalities from accepting military vehicles without voter approval. The backlash against government waste has cited the most recent figures available for funding of the vehicles, which dates back to 2010. Of the nearly $1 bn Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grants in 2010 to fund protection against potential terrorist attacks, six million of that went to armored vehicles. Opposition politicians have complained that over $34 bn has been spent since 911. $4.2 bn worth of equipment went to domestic police through the DOD’s 1033 excess property program and other programs aimed at fighting the War on Drugs and the War on Terror. The military “recycling” program for unneeded equipment has 13,000 participating agencies in all 50 US states. The amount of equipment given out each year is expanding. In 2012, $546 million worth of military equipment was handed out. The tanks–and therefore the spending, some argue–are not needed. Last year a Keene (pop. 23,409 with a violent crime rate almost half the national average), New Hampshire City Councilmember admitted to ACLU that the city lied to DHS on its application money to buy a BearCat. The police used the word “terrorism” on the federal funding application, but the council member stated, “Our application talked about the danger of domestic terrorism, but that’s just something you put in the grant application to get the money.” He continued, “What red-blooded American cop isn’t going to be excited about getting a toy like this? That’s what it comes down to.” The defense industry’s sales to local agencies was projected to reach $19.2 bn for the 2014 year, according to a report by the Homeland Security Research Corp. Last year, the ACLU launched a nationwide investigation into the police use of military technology and tactics, stating, “Equipping state and local law enforcement with military weapons and vehicles, military tactical training, and actual military assistance to conduct traditional law enforcement erodes civil liberties and encourages increasingly aggressive policing, particularly in poor neighborhoods and communities of color. We’ve seen examples of this in several localities, but we don’t know the dimensions of the problem.” The ACLU filed 225 public records requests in 23 states to question the nature of the military weapons, the training provided, the funding sources, the oversight mechanisms, and the legal protections in place before use is allowed for military weaponry, equipment and vehicles, and drones, as well as whether there existed and cooperative agreements between police and the National Guard counter-drug program. The potential effects of militarizing police forces has also been criticized. The “transformed local police departments into small, army-like forces, and put intimidating equipment into the hands of civilian officers. And that is raising questions about whether the strategy has gone too far, creating a culture and capability that jeopardizes public safety and civil rights while creating an expensive false sense of security.” noted journalists Andrew Becker and G.W. Schulz, who reported on the issue in 2011. ACLU ACLU Huffington Post Daily Beast Daily Beast WLTX Ben Swann BoingBoing Wall Street Journal

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Over 20 Countries Developing Weaponized Drones

The Speaker — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 03:00:58 +0000

Currently, more than 20 countries are developing military drones, or UAVs, including Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran and China. Drone weapon dominance is not limited in the way nuclear weapons was. Nuclear weapons require high-level engineering to make the warhead as well as the rocket that propels it, and the material required is also rare, costly and protected. Drones can be made by any individual or team. Progress in drone technology is much more open than some other serious forms of weapons. Any country could rival any other in drone weapon technology, theoretically. Read more: First Vehicle-Mounted Drone-Killing Laser Made Public Drones as weapons are commonly paired with artificial intelligence that intelligently and autonomously launches missiles. Drones have to a degree defined US military action in outside Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years. Drone technology is a rapidly growing area of business. Google and Facebook are investing. The Speaker

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MIA New Self-Directed Music Video “Double Bubble Trouble” Feat. Neon 3-D Printed Guns and Peace Sign Drones – BRIEF

The Speaker — Wed, 21 May 2014 02:59:25 +0000

MIA self-directed the music video for her latest release, “Double Bubble Trouble,” in which attractive, customized 3-D printed guns in various shapes and sizes owned and shared by young people and neon peace-sign drones hover over groups of girl dancers. The video also flashes an infomercial of 3-D printing guns, 1984, groups of teen boys being made out with by blonde teen girls in a row, rape rings, fashion, flashing images, helmet cams, sweat-pants room-dancers, fish-tank bongs, smiling-face Niqab, Japanese kanji, tattoos, e-cigarettes, gun-flashing and gun-pointing, American military-style drones, picture-in-picture, “YES WE CAN,” pop tags, security cameras, ying-yangs, parrots with neon guns, monkeys, and grills.

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