Italy Tailors Rules To Allow UAVs, Military Aircraft in Civil Airspace

From:  Defense News 

COMMENT -  There are sooo many reasons for Dan to want an office in Italy.  Amy is in Santa Barbara. Oh, yes.  And, of course they want drones in Italy, too.

By TOM KINGTON 

Rules of the Road: Italy has established guidelines to allow UAVs, such as its Predator, and military aircraft to share civilian airspace. (Italian Air Force)

ROME — Italy is crafting regulations to manage the use of civilian airspace by military UAVs and aircraft.

While many UAV users are content to focus on how to fly their drones in war zones, where flight regulations are lax or nonexistent, the Italian Air Force has teamed with local civil aviation authorities over the past decade to work out UAV regulations for peacetime.

As well as flying its unarmed Predator or Reaper UAVs in Iraq, the Balkans, Afghanistan and Libya, a 2004 law has allowed Italy to send UAVs to patrol airspace over special events, including a 2007 visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the 2009 G-8 gathering.  MORE

 

Iran claims to have copied U.S. stealth drone; what's the threat from this captured technology?

From:  Military & AeroSpace

COMMENT - And will Dan O'Dowd be opening up a branch office for Green Hills in Iran?  If they can pay, and they can, the answer is probably YES!!!!!!!  Time will tell.....

May 13, 2014

By John Keller  Editor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE MIL & AERO BLOG, 13 May 2014. Leaders of the Iranian government claim to have copied a U.S. stealth spy drone, which the Iranians captured three years ago while the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) reportedly was flying a surveillance mission over Iranian nuclear and military sites.

 

At first it's easy to dismiss the military threat that this copied U.S. low-observable UAV might pose. It's taken U.S. experts decades to develop the most sophisticated drones in the sky. How could the Iranians copy one in three years with anywhere near the capabilities that U.S. unmanned aircraft have?

Plus, Iranian government officials have shown themselves prone to bluster. They have claimed to have advanced attack submarine capability, formidable air-to-air jet fighter capability, and now advanced UAV capability allegedly with surveillance and attack capability.  MORE

Drone strikes in Pak-Afghan border area, casualties feared

From:  The News International

 

 May 14, 2014 - Updated 103 PKT

From Web Edition

 

KHYBER AGENCY: A drone fired missiles in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area of Nazyan on Wednesday, Geo News reported.

According to the political administration of the area, an unmanned aircraft fired three missiles in the border area of Nazyan today which is reported to be a safe haven of banned outfit Lashkar-e-Islam.

The administration further told that casualties are expected in the attack. However, further details about the strikes are yet to be ascertained.

Green Hills Software—Technology Showcase @ AUVSI Unmanned Systems 2014—A Jelly Bean Demo (Event)

From:  SatNews Daily 

COMMENT - 

Satnews Daily

May 12^th, 2014

NEWS RELEASE 

[SatNews] Green Hills Software, an independent software vendor for the Internet of Things (IoT), will demonstrate its latest embedded software solutions focused on software security, safety and availability for the autonomous control and payload community at the AUVSI Unmanned Systems Conference, May 12 – 15, 2014, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

In booth #915, Green Hills Software will demonstrate a Linux-based (Android Jelly Bean) platform simultaneously running unmanned vehicle mission applications alongside native INTEGRITY® applications. This demo is the world's first ARM Virtualization Extension (VE)-enabled hypervisor, INTEGRITY Multivisor™, running on a Texas Instruments, Inc. (TI) OMAP™ 5 processor with two ARM® Cortex®-A15 cores. The unique SMP-enabled INTEGRITY Multivisor architecture provides hard real-time capabilities with fast boot performance that enable embedded resilience for mission functions such as video surveillance, while securely separating open mission application environments—providing mission-critical resiliency and availability and a rich application environment for unmanned vehicle missions.

The Green Hills Software infosite is accessible via http://www.ghs.com/index_main.html

Bundy Ranch: DoD Approved Drone Strike? OathKeepers Evacuating?

From:  Freedom Outpost 

COMMENT - Now, we will be checking to see what contractors provided the technologies in the drone which will be used. 

by  Dean Garrison April 28, 2014

 

Last week, we printed a short article with a report from a concerned Patriot in Bunkerville. The gentleman was concerned that a mole was in their midst and seeking to turn supporters against each other. The latest report I got was that, whether a mole is present or not, paranoia seems to be setting in rapidly. Paul Joseph Watson reported last week that some idiots were taking to twitter to suggest a drone strike on the Bundy Ranch. Who would have thought that we would be seriously talking about that this week? 

 

Again, I am going to keep my source secret until given the green light. The man I have been talking to is somewhat high profile and giving any clue of who he is might cause him problems. Here is the latest email I received: 

Things at camp bundy are deteriorating quickly. Bundy has taken charge of things, or his bodyguard Ryan. They are now running oathkeepers out and bringing in militia to train under the "Bundy Flag". Oathkeepers received a call 2 nights ago telling them there was an imminent drone strike and to clear out. Turns out they were bringing militia in as they left. A couple of fist fights actually broke out and weapons were drawn.

1 of 2 things is happening. The spook inside this thing is trying to break apart the biggest most organized "militia" on the scene or Cliven Bundy is trying to form an army for whatever reason.

MORE

Things at camp bundy are deteriorating quickly. Bundy has taken charge of things, or his bodyguard Ryan. They are now running oathkeepers out and bringing in militia to train under the "Bundy Flag". Oathkeepers received a call 2 nights ago telling them there was an imminent drone strike and to clear out. Turns out they were bringing militia in as they left. A couple of fist fights actually broke out and weapons were drawn.

1 of 2 things is happening. The spook inside this thing is trying to break apart the biggest most organized "militia" on the scene or Cliven Bundy is trying to form an army for whatever reason.

Read more at http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/04/bundy-ranch-dod-approved-drone-strike-oathkeepers-evacuating/#IM3lWkPkLyjf4wup.99

Last week, we printed a short article with a report from a concerned Patriot in Bunkerville. The gentleman was concerned that a mole was in their midst and seeking to turn supporters against each other. The latest report I got was that, whether a mole is present or not, paranoia seems to be setting in rapidly. Paul Joseph Watson reported last week that some idiots were taking to twitter to suggest a drone strike on the Bundy Ranch. Who would have thought that we would be seriously talking about that this week?
Again, I am going to keep my source secret until given the green light. The man I have been talking to is somewhat high profile and giving any clue of who he is might cause him problems. Here is the latest email I received:

Read more at http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/04/bundy-ranch-dod-approved-drone-strike-oathkeepers-evacuating/#IM3lWkPkLyjf4wup.99

Activist Art Against Drone Killing Redesigns The Landscape in Pakistan

From:  Activist Post

COMMENT - And Green Hills Software, Inc., continues to ring the cash register for killing children.

Joe Wright
Activist Post

The continuing impact of unmanned drones across the target countries of the U.S. has inspired many short videos that attempt to personalize the death and destruction that has been wrought. One of the most poignant is titled "Living Under Drones." This 7-minute video can be seen here.

Another short video which really captures the general lack of compassion and disconnect that drones inspire can be seen in the montage below where the drone chief himself, Barack Obama, laughs it up about the use of predator drones. As his little inside joke is juxtaposed with the heart-breaking reality of the innocents killed by actions Obama has commanded, it further highlights the ruthlessness of remote control death and destruction, as well as the personalities of those in power.

The fact remains that even the warmongering Brookings Institution has concluded that there are 10 civilians killed to every 1 "militant" in Pakistan alone. Obama denies this, and a range of other documented evidence, when he states that only "precision strikes against al Qaeda and their affiliates" are undertaken.

A new form of activist art is taking shape to ensure that human beings should be recognized as more than just "collateral damage" in a war that the vast majority of global citizens have no interest in continuing. This art form aims to literally get right in the face of those who pull the trigger.

  MORE

The risk of reporting US drone strikes

From:  Al Jazeera

COMMENT - Why do they persist in hitting wedding parties?   Perhaps Dan O'Dowd can tell us.  

Hyder Iftikhar Abbasi Last updated: 12 Feb 2014 14:17

Yemen researcher says he received a death threat after investigating deadly wedding-convoy attack.

A photo of alleged victims killed in a December 12, 2013 drone strike in central Yemen [Reprieve]

The disturbing phone call came after Baraa Shiban investigated a drone strike on a wedding party that killed 12 people in central Yemen in December. A clear message was delivered to the human rights researcher over the phone after a major news network reported the story based on his research.  "The caller refused to identify himself and threatened my life if I continued my investigation of the strike," Shiban told Al Jazeera, noting he conducted similar studies of US drone operations in the past, but had never before received death threats.  Shiban works for the UK-based human rights group Reprieve and interviewed survivors two days after the attack. His investigation ascertained that 12 people were killed after four missiles were fired at the convoy. There were also 14 victims with severe wounds; some lost limbs, others their eyes.     Along with the eyewitness testimony, Shiban gained access to video and still images of the alleged victims of the drone strike. Photos of the aftermath of drone attacks - whether in the tribal regions of Pakistan, or in the deserts of Yemen - are rarely captured. Most occur in obscure regions with hostile terrain, making access difficult for journalists and activists.  MORE