Lifeboat Foundation

With some parts held together by duct tape.

In the raging battle between Russia and Ukraine, Russia’s small drones have been reported to be taking a deadly toll on Ukrainian forces. A new video, however, is revealing that the highly efficient precision drones are not as advanced as one might expect.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry shared a video on Sunday that shows a soldier allegedly dismantling a Russian military surveillance drone and pointing out several highly unsophisticated features. In fact, seeing what the whole drone consists of it seems like something a schoolchild could put together.

Continue reading “Video shows Ukrainian soldier allegedly taking apart a Russian drone and discovering its regular camera” »

Safety avionics specialist Iris Automation has made a meteorological enhancement to its Casia G ground-based surveillance system with the integration of TruWeather Solutions sensors and services – a move aiming to add climate security to the company’s aerial detect-and-avoid protection.

Addition of a precision weather utility was a natural step in Iris Automation’s wider objective of ensuring flight safety of, and between, crewed aircraft and drones The company says local micro weather and low-altitude atmospheric conditions often differ considerably from those at higher levels. That differential creates a larger degree of weather uncertainty for aerial service providers, who weigh safety factors heavily into whether they make flights as planned or not.

Italian company EuroLink Systems, a technology solutions manufacturer with decades of industry experience, will launch the Beluga mini drone, a dual-use aircraft ready to deploy anywhere from the desert to the arctic, at next week’s Xponential 2022 in Orlando.

The new state-of-the-art multirotor drone blends a bio-inspired design with high-performance features that make it suitable for a wide variety of tasks – from military or public safety applications like short-range reconnaissance, search & rescue, or security applications to commercial use in 3D terrain mapping, urban logistics support applications, threat detections, and urgent medical transportation.

Beluga has been in development for three years and combines Eurolink Systems’ technical experience with mother nature shapes, resulting in an elegant design and rich technical functionality – that represents the best of art and science. The drone can fly fast, with a maximum cruising speed of up to 112 km/h (69 mph), for up to 60 minutes with a 3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg) payload.

A shadow war is a war that, officially, does not exist. As mercenaries, hackers and drones take over the role armies once played, shadow wars are on the rise.

States are evading their responsibilities and driving the privatization of violence. War in the grey-zone is a booming business: Mercenaries and digital weaponry regularly carry out attacks, while those giving orders remain in the shadows.

Continue reading “Drones, hackers and mercenaries — The future of war | DW Documentary” »

Oleksandr Radzikhovskiy was a software engineer and amateur drone enthusiast before Russia’s invasion. But now, Radzikhovskiy is using drones to spot and help destroy Russian tanks.

Walmart has teamed up with Zipline to launch a trial for an on-demand drone delivery service.

Early next year, Walmart will service customers within a 50-mile radius of their headquarters in Arkansas, promising to deliver health and wellness products within an hour of purchase. They hope to expand to include general merchandise in the future. If the trial is successful, it could be the start of a nationwide drone delivery service.

“Trial deliveries will take place near Walmart’s headquarters here in Northwest Arkansas using Zipline’s proprietary technology which is, simply put, really cool,” Tom Ward, a Senior VP at Walmart, wrote in a blog post. The stork-like delivery service would drop a package at your doorstep with a mini-parachute attached.

The FAA has granted Iris Automation a second waiver for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) autonomous drone operations on behalf of the City of Reno. But while the previous waiver required the use of Iris Automation’s advanced detect and avoid solution Casia X, this one utilizes the company’s Casia G ground-based solution (pictured above).

The fresh waiver allows an operator to fly without the need for visual observers or the Remote Pilot in Command to maintain visual contact with the drone. Casia G uses Iris Automation’s patented detect and avoid technology to create a stationary perimeter of sanitized, monitored airspace, enabling drones to complete missions safely. The system also provides awareness of intruder-piloted aircraft to maneuver drones to safe zones.

(Bloomberg) — Alphabet Inc.’s Wing is set to begin the largest drone-delivery test program so far in the U.S., starting Thursday in the Dallas suburbs. Most Read from BloombergU.S. Drones for Ukraine Will Include Latest Tank KillersRussia Skirts Nearer Default After Dollar Payment BlockedCanada to Ban Foreigners From Buying Homes as Prices SoarEx-Oligarch Says Putin Sees War With the West Already UnderwayIf Stocks Don’t Fall, the Fed Needs to Force ThemWing LLC, which had announced its intention to begin the Texas deliveries last October, has obtained permission for the program from the Federal Aviation Administration, the company said in a statement Monday.

Wingcopter says it’s teaming up with German Airways to explore the use of drones in the delivery of spare parts to offshore wind farms. This development comes days after two Singapore-based firms announced their plans to produce offshore wind farm delivery drones that would operate at 90% lower costs than current methods that involve the use of boats or helicopters.

At the time of deployment, Wingcopter’s delivery drones would take off from the Rostock Airport, requiring to land with pinpoint accuracy on a moving ship. Wingcopter says it will work closely with German Airways to develop this technologically demanding feature.