China unveils five second drone killer
China unveils anti-drone laser weapon able to shoot down ‘small aircraft’ within 5 seconds
… from Russia Today, Moscow
[ Editor’s Note: Well it seems the drone makers and drone killers are going to enjoy secure employment for some time. Hardly a month goes by that we don’t hear of some advance in the technology.The US leads the world in drone combat experience
Looking back on it, drones have turned into a Pandora’s box. They were just wonderful in the beginning when no one else had any — cost effective, no lives at risk and difficult to track and shoot down.
But just like the US was the leader in cyber-warfare in the beginning, it forced everybody else to get into the game pronto. We now see that happening big time.
Major countries are developing their own production capabilities so as not to be exposed to the Western sanctions monster. Most have been having to develop these in stages, except for Iran who captured two of our state-of-the-art drones and had copies up in a little over a year.
This new China drone is not really for traditional military defense, as it is limited to targets under 500 meters. Unsaid in the report is that mini-nukes are now small enough to be carried on these, a tremendous threat. So their new 5-second countermeasure is a welcome advance, and the test results are impressive, if they are true. Countries never publish that things don’t work well.
We live in an age of un-war tested major weapons systems. And we hope that we do not get to see if ICBMs can be intercepted in space, far from their targets, in case they don’t work.
Stealth technology is already outdated as countries with full spectrum radar satellite platforms can see the air turbulence behind a Stealth plane.Drones come in all shapes and sizes now, including helicopters
And yet the US is burying the defense budget in the “stealth” F-35, or using its huge cost overruns as a screen to fund black projects.
This makes us vulnerable to someone making a dumb move by over estimating their offense or the target’s defense. This I feel is why the US changed their preemptive strike policy to target anyone that could retaliate on an attack from us… pushing the bully thing to the max.
They don’t want potential opponents to have a defense, which is about an aggressive a stance as you can have. It is the position that Israel has enjoyed with its neighbors and their millions of occupation prisoners inside Israel. Did we learn it from them?… Jim W. Dean ]
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Iran “car-jacked”…ah…excuse me, “dron-jacked this one.
- First published … November 03, 2014 -
China has developed and successfully tested a highly accurate laser defense system against light drones. The homemade machine boasts a two-kilometer range and can down “various small aircraft” within five seconds of locating its target.
Boasting high speed, great precision and low noise, the system is aimed at destroying unmanned, small-scale drones flying under an altitude of 500 meters and at speeds below 50 meters per second, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement by one of the developers, the China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP).
A recent test saw the machine successfully bring down over 30 drones – a 100-percent success rate, according to the statement. The laser system is expected to play a key role in ensuring security during major events in urban areas.
“Intercepting such drones is usually the work of snipers and helicopters, but their success rate is not as high and mistakes with accuracy can result in unwanted damage,” explained Yi Jinsong, a manager with China Jiuyuan Hi-Tech Equipment Corp.Yi told Xinhua that small-scale, unmanned drones are relatively cheap and easy to use, which makes them a lucrative choice for terrorists. Concerns have also been raised recently over drones involved in unlicensed mapping activities, and the negative effect this could have on both military and civil aerial activities.
The academy is currently working on developing similar laser security systems with greater power and range, the Chinese news agency reported.
The drone industry has been booming in recent years, with the challenge to build small, hard-to-track drones that are difficult shoot down.
The US military is to get a new drone, small enough to fit into a uniform pocket, weighing a mere 80 grams. The so-called Extreme Access Pocket Flyer can fly for two hours, transmitting HD-quality video the whole time, without resorting to Wi-Fi.
According to a report by the independent, nonprofit, public policy institute, Stimson, the US has the “world’s largest and most sophisticated fleet of weaponized UAVs,” though America is “not likely to remain the world leader in the development of innovative UAV technologies.”
US military forces had at least 678 drones
in service in 2012, according to a study by the International Institute
for Strategic Studies, as reported by the Guardian.
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