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Weird, Birdlike Mystery Drone Crashes in Pakistan

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Re: Weird, Birdlike Mystery Drone Crashes in Pakistan

#4

Post by patio11 »

Here's a potentially scary thought for you: in ~2000, this would have been proof positive of state involvement. In 2011, this is barely newsworthy. In 2021, this will be about as within the reach of the average middle class teenager as a three ounce device capable of instantaneous worldwide encrypted communication.

This is not going to be a happy adjustment for people who have to maintain physical security of e.g. a base in Iraq or a community center in a small town in Iowa outside which the president is speaking. At the moment the man-portable drones mostly carry cameras, but the US is proving in spades that cameras are really lethal if you do them correctly. The smart money is not on "a camera will be the most lethal thing ever attached to a $100 electronic device the size of a seagull."

Re: Weird, Birdlike Mystery Drone Crashes in Pakistan

#7

Post by siphr »

electrichead wrote: post #2

Hm, I could've sworn I saw this thing in a TED talk recently. It was flying around the room in their demo.

Quite right. There is one that is the size of a small humming bird as well. I wouldn't be surprised if they're bein used as well. It may be almost impossible to spot them.

Re: Weird, Birdlike Mystery Drone Crashes in Pakistan

#8

Post by 0x12 »

lallysingh wrote: post #3

A Modified Lockheed Desert Hawk, used by the British: http://defensetech.org/2011/08/29/mystery-drone-crash-in-pak...

very good pictures of the Desert Hawk III here, there are some more differences besides the tail portion.

http://kr.blog.yahoo.com/shinecommerce/30459.html?p=2&pm...

Re: Weird, Birdlike Mystery Drone Crashes in Pakistan

#9

Post by Natsu »

patio11 wrote: post #4

Here's a potentially scary thought for you: in ~2000, this would have been proof positive of state involvement. In 2011, this is barely newsworthy. In 2021, this will be about as within the reach of the average middle class teenager as a three ounce device capable of instantaneous worldwide encrypted communication. This is not going to be a happy adjustment for people who have to maintain physical security of e.g. a…

They've already clamped down on model rocketry as a hobby. I wouldn't be surprised to see restrictions on flying devices capable of carrying payloads larger than a certain size.

As you point out, it's not hard to imagine nefarious uses. Which is, of course, one of the reasons we can't have nice things.

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