Is This An Iranian Drone?

Bahrain said the Iranian drone was found in the Gulf waters between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. (Al Arabiya)

First Image Of Iranian Spy Drone Found In Gulf Waters -- Al Arabiya

Al Arabiya obtained on Saturday the picture of what the Bahraini authorities said was an Iranian spy drone that was found in the Gulf waters between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Iran had denied on Thursday that one of its drones had violated the airspace of Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, Iranian media reported.

Bahrain’s Information Minister Samira Rajab said the incident was a further indication of continued Iranian meddling in Bahraini affairs.

“The international community needs to put an end to the Iranian interference in our affairs,” she said.

Tensions have been rising between Saudi-backed Bahrain and Shi’ite-rule Iran.

Read more ....

More News On An Iran Drone Found In Bahrain Waters

Iranian unmanned aircraft found in Bahrain -- UPI
Bahrain govt says it found Iranian drone in sea near Saudi Arabia -- Straits Times
Not ours, says Iran of drone found off Bahrain -- AFP
Iran Dismisses Saudi Arabia's Espionage Claims -- FARS News Agency
What is an Iranian drone doing in Bahrain, near Saudi Arabia? -- Middle East Online

My Comment: Looking at the above (grainy) picture I say that it can be anyone's drone .... and I doubt that it has a "return to sender" note on it. The Bahraini authorities will need to provide more info.

Iran Unveils It's Newest Attack Drone

Iran unveils a new indigenous stealth reconnaissance-combat drone dubbed Hamaseh on May 9, 2013.

Iran Unveils Indigenous Stealth Reconnaissance, Combat Drone -- Press TV (Iran)

Iran has unveiled its latest indigenous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a reconnaissance and combat drone dubbed Hamaseh.

The drone was unveiled on Thursday during a ceremony attended by Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi.

“This drone has been built by defense industry experts and is simultaneously capable of surveillance, reconnaissance and missile and rocket attacks,” Vahidi said on the sidelines of the ceremony.

“This aircraft with its stealth quality can avoid detection by the enemy,” he added.

Read more ....

More News On Iran's Latest Drone

Iran Unveils Most Advanced Home-Made Drone -- Fars News Agency (Iran)
Iran unveils new drone, names it 'Epic' -- Foreign Policy
Iran unveils new attack drone -- The Telegraph
Iran unveils ‘Epic’ new drone -- RT
Report: Iran says it has built new, radar-evading drone -- Washington Post/AP
Iran claims to have built a new weaponised drone -- Digital Journal

A Visual Tour Of Military Drones Present And Future

Military Drones Present And Future: Visual Tour -- Information Week

The Pentagon's growing fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles ranges from hand-launched machines to the Air Force's experimental X-37B space plane.

A Jan. 2 drone strike against a Taliban leader in Pakistan near the Afghan border illustrates the expanded role that unmanned aerial vehicles are playing in U.S. military operations.

Militant leader Mullah Nazir and several Taliban fighters were killed by the attack, which involved at least two missiles, according to reports.

The Department of Defense and U.S. intelligence agencies are increasingly using UAVs for everything from battlefield surveillance to remote-controlled strikes against terrorists. Such strikes have also been blamed for civilian casualties in their pursuit of enemy targets.

Read more ....

My Comment: Impressive collection of pics.

The Future For Drones Is 'Small'

iRobot Founder Now Building Tiny Hovering Drone Spies -- Danger Room

Four years ago, iRobot co-founder Helen Greiner stepped down from the company she helped turn into an all-important supplier of the military’s growing arsenal of ground robots. Now today, she’s unveiled the first ‘bots to roll off her new company’s assembly line. What are they? Teeny tiny hovering drones, designed to fly through your window and spy on you.

That’s just one of two robots revealed so far from Massachusetts company CyPhy Works, founded by Greiner after leaving iRobot. We’ve also now got a sense of what Greiner’s been developing for the past couple of years.

Read more ....

My Comment: I concur .... I can easily foresee the day when these drones are being used by soldiers to scout ahead, check buildings/rooms, and monitor threats.

Japan To Develop Missile-Detecting Drones

The Ultimate Missile Defense: Drones? -- J. Michael Cole, The Diplomat

When back in April North Korea launched what the international community claimed was a ballistic missile, the country that had the most to fear from the launch — Japan — failed to track it, raising anxiety in Tokyo that its defenses against a missile attack by Pyongyang were insufficient.

Ironically, the reason why Japan’s ground radars and Aegis destroyers, backed by U.S. early-warning surveillance satellites, were unable to track the launch is because the launch was a failure: the object, which Pyongyang all along maintained was an orbiter, never reached high enough an altitude to allow for its detection.

Read more ....

More News On Japan To Develop Missile-Detecting Drones

Report: Japan To Develop Missile-Detecting Drone -- Defense News/AFP
Japan plans development of missile-tracking UAVs -- NextGov
Japan To Develop UAVs To Detect Nuclear Missiles -- Defense World
Japan developing unmanned drones to counter China, North Korea attacks -- Japan Daily Press
Missile-tracking drones may scan skies from FY20 -- Daily Yomiuri Online

Did Iran Shoot Down A U.S. Spy Drone?

The report claims that Iran's Revolutionary Guards shot down a U.S. spy plane near the city of Qom. Radio Free Europe

Did Iran Just Shoot Down a U.S. Stealth Drone? -- The Danger Room

For the third time this year, Iran is claiming it shot down an American robot warplane trying to snoop on Tehran’s nuclear facilities. “An unmanned U.S. spy plane flying over the holy city of Qom near the uranium enrichment Fordu site was shot down by the Revolutionary Guards’ air-defense units,” lawmaker Ali Aghazadeh Dafsari told Iranian state television.

As with all “news” reports coming from Tehran’s official media apparatus, it’s wise to take Dafsari’s claim with a grain of salt. Notably, no one is showing off any fresh wreckage of an American robot — a popular pastime in other countries where drones have gone down.

Read more ....

More News On Iran Claiming It Shot Down A Drone

US Denies Losing Drone in Iran-- Voice f America
U.S., Iran spar over downed drone claim -- UPI
Reports: US drone shot down over Iran nuke site -- MSNBC
Iran Reports Downing U.S. Drone Near Atomic Facility -- Global Security Newswire
Iran says shot down a U.S. spy plane over nuclear site -- Reuters
Iranian Report Claims U.S. Spy Plane Shot Down Over Nuclear Site -- Radio Free Europe
Iranian media: Iran downs U.S. 'spy drone' -- CNN
Iran Says it Shot Down US Spy Plane -- Voice of America
Iran claims to have shot down U.S. spy drone over nuclear site -- Haaretz
Iranian Lawmaker Claims Iran Shot Down U.S. Spy Plane -- Atlantic Wire
Iran shoots down unmanned US spy plane -- The Telegraph

The U.S. Air Force Wants Smaller Drones

MD4 UAV by Microdrones GMBH via Microdrones.com

The Air Force Wants Tiny Drones That Can Squirt Their Prey With Trackable Sensor Goo -- PopSci

Having a target painted on one’s back just took on a whole new literal meaning. The Air Force wants a new kind of tracking tech in which a tiny drone surreptitiously “paints” an individual with some kind of signal-emitting powder or liquid that allows the military to keep tabs on him or her. Or perhaps upload their coordinates to a hellfire missile.

Read more ....

My Comment: The UAV and robot/drone industry is just taking off with new products and innovations .... I can only imagine what the Air Force will be wanting 5 years from now.

How Drones Are Changing The U.S. Army

Specialist Joshua Gabbard tests a Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV), intended for reconnaissance operations in buildings or at vehicle checkpoints. Toby Jorrin for The Wall Street Journal

For Army, It's The Charge Of The Drones -- Wall Street Journal

Military Tests Robots, Other Gadgets to Help Soldiers Scout Battlefield in Real Time; Costs May Cloud Initiative's Future.

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M.—In a remote stretch of desert in southeastern New Mexico, the U.S. Army is experimenting with gadgetry that may play a key role in the battlefields of the not-too-distant future.

Beer-keg-shaped drones hover over a simulated battlefield, tracking targets of interest. Small, portable robots with an odd resemblance to the computer-animated hero of the movie "WALL-E" peer around corners, relaying sound and digital images. Sensors silently track enemy movements.

Read more ....

My Comment: And this is only the tip of what is possible .... one can imagine what will be in the military of the future in 30, 40, ....50 years .... that is if the defense budget does not get gutted by then.

$62 Billion Market For Unmanned Drones In The Next Decade

An MQ-9 Reaper taxis down a runway in Afghanistan. The Reaper has been flying in Afghanistan since September; it flew its first combat mission in Iraq on July 19. STAFF SGT. BRIAN FERGUSON / AIR FORCE

Teal Group Predicts Worldwide UAV Market Will Total Over $62 Billion in Its Just Released 2009 UAV Market Profile and Forecast -- PRNewswire

WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) continue to be the most dynamic growth sector of the world aerospace industry, report Teal analysts in their latest integrated market analysis.

Teal Group's 2009 market study estimates that UAV spending will almost double over the next decade from current worldwide UAV expenditures of $4.4 billion annually to $8.7 billion within a decade, totaling just over $62 billion in the next ten years.

Read more ....

My Comment: The U.S. will account for 70% of this market. This is a staggering amount of money .... especially when none (or very little) was being spent almost 10 years ago.

I personally feel that this dollar amount is low. Unmanned drones have proven to be very effective. New technologies can only improve this performance. They are also cheaper than manned fighter aircraft .... a fact that will not be lost by military planners.

Air Force To Unleash 'Gorgon Stare' On Squirting Insurgents

From The Danger Room:

The award for best -- and creepiest -- military name of the week? No contest, that's "Gorgon Stare," the Air Force's $150 million project to outfit its latest spy drones with super high-powered cameras.

By next year, 10 Reaper unmanned aircraft should have a Gorgon Stare sensor, which will film an area, two-and-a-half miles around, from 12 different angles.

"Gorgon Stare will allow a combat controller on the ground, a commander at headquarters and an intelligence officer back in the U.S. all to choose a different angle from the same Reaper," according to Air Force Times' Michael Hoffman.

Read more ....

My Comment: Talk about owning the high ground.