The military’s new eyes in the skies.
THE ARMY STAFF SERGEANT PEERS THROUGH HIS BINOCULARS, over the large rock to the desert floor below his position on the ridgeline. Explosions can be heard at a distance, and there’s a smoky haze in the early morning air. He motions to a junior soldier to his left. He trots forward with a small bag around his neck. “Get the PD-100 up,” the sergeant orders in a hushed tone. The specialist opens a flap in the bag and then a door that reveals the tiny helicopter. He opens another flap in the top of the bag with the unit’s control screen. With a few button presses and a toss, the single main rotor and tail rotor come alive and aircraft lifts up.
“Where to, Sarge?” the soldier asks as he controls the drone’s movements with a thumb controller that is wired to the bag.
Pointing to the valley, the sergeant directs, “We’ve got to get to the rendezvous point on the other side of the valley, but intel says the enemy is using the wadi over there.” He points to the cut in the valley floor that is shadowed in the sunrise. “Get the drone up as high as you can and come in from the east. I don’t want anybody to know we’re watching.” By now, the drone is far enough away that it can’t be heard and is barely seen.
The pair watches the screen for a few minutes as the helicopter glides along. “Wait!” the sergeant says. “Come in right there.” He points to the screen, and the specialist presses the down arrows on the thumb control. The images get closer and clearer as the drone descends.
Denne historien er fra May/ June 2019-utgaven av RotorDrone.
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Denne historien er fra May/ June 2019-utgaven av RotorDrone.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Windracers Mail Delivery
With its partner Windracers Ltd., Royal Mail has become the first UK parcel carrier to deliver mail to a UK island in a 70-mile, beyond-line-of-sight, autonomous flight to the Scilly Isles. Tasked to better connect the islands’ remote communities, a consortium including Royal Mail, Windracers Ltd., DronePrep, University of Southampton, Excalibur Healthcare Services, and Consortiq Limited is funded by UK Research and Innovation.
Counting Penguins
Counting penguins is harder than it sounds. With freezing rain, snow, and chilling winds that limit the flight windows for the surveys, it takes scientists using three full days to map the location of 300,000 nesting pairs of Adélie penguins on Antarctica’s Cape Crozier.
A Drone Double Play
Beach cleanup and a historic bridge
Understanding Aviation Sectional Charts
Signs and symbols every remote pilot needs to know
10 TOP JOBS
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AUTONOMOUS RESUPPLY IN A CONGESTED BATTLESPACE
Can autonomous drones deliver supplies to troops in an active firefight? DroneUp recently partnered with a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Allied Command Transformation (ACT) Joint Force Development (JFD) exercise to find out.
IMPROVE YOUR DRONE PHOTOGRAPHY
10 must-know Lightroom tips
UAS TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT The Key to the Future of Drones
In 2012, Congress passed the FAA Modernization and Reform Act, which established a deadline for the agency: achieve full integration of drones into the airspace by 2015. As the calendar rolls over into 2021, this begs an obvious question: “Are we there yet?”
FLYING FOR A LIVING
A professional UAS operator on what it takes to be successful
ON THE WING
This bird-like drone is incredibly agile and efficient