Countering Drones

John Young jya at pipeline.com
Fri May 15 13:07:51 PDT 2009


The principal cause of Israeli aircraft crashes are bird strikes which 
cause way more losses than enemy fire. Israel is located on the main north
south route for birds going and coming between Africa and Europe. Similar
bird routes are around the globe and pose similar hazards, not least from
a crafty attacked who would use them to hide conventional anti-air
swarms of mini-craft.

It has been suggested that a pretty good anti-air campaign against 
Israel would be swarms of birds blending in and supplementing natural 
ebbs and flows.

Swarms of mini-drones, the little ones which are unarmed, not much
bigger than a model plane, could be effective against UAVs as well
as full-sized aircraft. These cost a few hundred dollars, and are hard
for radar to distinguish from birds.

There is concern that such mechanical swarms might be used against 
commercial airliners, with or without camouflaging bird flocks. Some
are very quiet, running on batteries not the customary noisemakers.

Can a disposal drone home in on a soldier's radio signal? Sure, using
the same signal technology as model planes. Call them snipers for
assassination politics.

It is reported that the US military is working on similar systems. Some
are water-borne to go after surface ships with a radar profile no different
than a wave or a leaping fish. No doubt a submarine version is in the 
works or already exists. Put the armed dolphins out of work.

The point is well-made that these cheap attackers pose a threat to 
nations highly armed with heavy weaponry aimed at its own kind. 





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