quote:

Originally posted by steve495:

quote:

Originally posted by VictimNoMore:

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
I thought it was illegal to fly drones at night

Not illegal -with a waiver- if flying under Part 107.

It's actual legal for hobbyists to fly at night under certain conditions. You still need to know about the airspace regulations, required lights and respect all of the rules in place.

Part 107 commercial operators do need a daytime waiver.

Correct. An operation like this -one would assume- has consideration involved i.e.- money, and would fall under Part 107 operations.

Maybe they're USAF-issue after all...

https://gazette.com/military/c...b7-2335e1d42476.html

Colorado drone mystery sightings finally might be solved

By Tom Roeder
tom.roeder@gazette.com
Jan 5, 2020 Updated Jan 29, 2020

The mysterious drone swarms spotted over Colorado that have vexed the governor, law enforcement and residents might not be so mysterious after all.

While no one has taken responsibility, and even the Federal Aviation Administration has claimed ignorance, the answer could be a secretive Air Force program intended to keep prying eyes away from nuclear missile silos.

Air Force Global Strike Command, which is based in Louisiana, has confirmed that it conducts counterdrone exercises out of F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, where it is based.

The command oversees underground Minuteman silos spread across northeastern Colorado, southeastern Wyoming and western Nebraska, the area where the drones have been spotted nightly the past two weeks.

The Air Force isn’t claiming ownership of the drones, but neither is it denying it.

F.E. Warren didn’t respond to an emailed question Friday on whether its counterdrone effort had anything to do with the recent sightings.

A Federal Aviation Administration map of the region where the drones have been spotted — Logan, Phillips, Sedgwick and Yuma counties — is pocked with red dots of where drones are forbidden, restricted airspace presumably above missile silos.

The Air Force counterdrone program at Warren, which includes extensive testing of civilian drones, relies on innovative technology including Dedrone, a system developed in Europe that detects and tracks small civilian drones using the radio signals they require for control.

Run by the 90th Security Support Squadron at Warren, the counterdrone program is one of several across the Defense Department to take aim at the unmanned aircraft. For the nation’s missile troops, the camera carried by small drones present a threat because they could give an adversary clues on how to attack intercontinental ballistic missile, a key component of American power.

The 90th Missile Wing has a military police unit equipped with helicopters to protect missile silos from threats on the ground. The Warren counterdrone program focuses on the small, commercially available drones that can be purchased on Amazon for as little as $50.

In a news release, the Air Force said the commercial drones “provide a realistic training environment.”

Lisa Meserve, who handles federal sales for Dedrone, said her company is working with private companies and government organizations including the Air Force to detect drone flights. The firm has worked with F.E. Warren since an initial contract in 2017.

While Meserve couldn’t say where the drones in northeastern Colorado came from, she said the Air Force is fond of testing F.E. Warren’s drone-detecting capabilities.

“They fly drones against what they have all the time,” she said.

The Phillips County Sheriff’s Office first reported drone sightings on Dec. 20, noting that as many as 16 drones had been spotted in Phillips and Yuma counties. The location of the drones alone was enough to prompt suspicion. The two counties combined have just over 14,000 residents and aren’t known for having a large contingent of drone enthusiasts.

“We believe that the drones, though startling, are not malicious in nature,” the Phillips County sheriff said on Facebook. “The Sheriff’s Office is following up on leads and communications with state and federal agencies to pinpoint the exact nature to their activities.”

The drone sightings have made national news, with networks and newspapers delving into the mystery.

Federal agencies from the FAA to the Colorado Springs-based North American Aerospace Defense Command have denied involvement. But some drone incidents in Colorado have had military roots, including one in 2015 in which a wayward drone from Fort Carson landed in a downtown Colorado Springs yard.

In 2017, a drone used in an Army training exercise in Arizona rode jet stream winds and was found in the foothills west of Denver.

Small drones have also wound up as battlefield weapons in recent years, with the Islamic State using some small drones to drop hand grenades on foes.

Countering drone threats means quickly adjusting to the new technologies rapidly entering the drone market.

“It certainly gets more difficult by the day to solve,” Dedrone’s Meserve said.

The Air Force is fielding a growing array of counterdrone weapons intended for use on overseas battlefields, including a new truck-mounted laser delivered in October by Raytheon.

“Five years ago, few people worried about the drone threat,” Roy Azevedo, president of Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, said in a news release. “Now, we hear about attacks or incursions all the time. Our customers saw this coming and asked us to develop a ready-now counter-(drone) capability.”

Counterdrone efforts won’t be limited to F.E. Warren for long.

The Air Force and other military branches are examining wider efforts to protect bases from drones. And Colorado Springs bases, including Schriever Air Force Base and Peterson Air Force Base, where airmen control the nation’s constellation of military satellites, would be high on the Pentagon’s counterdrone priority list.



Contact Tom Roeder: 636-0240 Twitter: @xroederx

Here's a very long article with lots of links and screen shot. I have NO idea what's going on.

Internal Air Force Emails Show Confusion And Concern Over Colorado's Mystery Drones

BY BRETT TINGLEYFEBRUARY 24, 2020

In December 2019 and January 2020, the plains of rural northeastern Colorado and southwestern Nebraska were the epicenter of a series of sightings of what were widely described as unidentified drones. Despite the media attention these sightings received and the speculation that they were related to the security forces responsible for protecting intercontinental ballistic missile silos scattered throughout the region, military bases in the area denied that the drones were theirs. While the mystery of the drones’ operator or operators remains unsolved, a series of internal emails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act reveal just how serious the drone reports were taken by the 90th Security Forces Group and the public affairs office at F.E. Warren Air Force Base. The emails are heavily redacted, but they at least shed some light on the confusion even the base experienced at the hands of this seemingly unsolved mystery...


Complete article:

https://www.thedrive.com/the-w...rados-mystery-drones

quote:

Originally posted by 18DAI:
Anyone ever hear what happened with those swarms of drones running grid patterns over areas of Colorado a few months back?

I was watching a program last night on History channel. A guy who used to work for the governments ATIP program and now works for Academy to the Stars, said that the government tried to find out what the drones were, who they belonged to and where they came from.

Including the use of sophisticated recon aircraft and cameras. And came up empty. They also said the drones exhibited performance/flight times in excess of the most advanced drones known to be in use. Interesting, to me. Regards 18DAI

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...0601935/m/1770077374

Since the news is quiet, it must either be legit or have Top Men scared ...

UN Troops in CO? Really?

Check out Thedrive.com Several articles detailing these drones conducting surveillance of US Military bases and Energy infrastructure.

The most recent in Tucson at Davis Monthan AFB. The drome was spotted by a Police helicopter and persued. It was able to be seen in the low light of dusk. Five feet by three feet quad copter type.

BUT it was NOT visible on radar and the observer in the helicopter could not see it with NVGs. The drone outran the Police helicopter and was lost from sight after it passed into the overcast at 14K feet. NOT a battery powered civilian drone.

Speculation is it belongs to the Chicoms and is based in Mexico, where the Chicoms are working alongside Mexican drug cartels. Several of the articles over on Thedrive.com mention other swarms of drones over sensitive Nuclear facilities recently.

Too bad the US Military Command structure is too busy going Woke/Marxist to deal with this threat. Regards 18DAI

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Everything's flammable if you "flam" it enough. I'd like to see a few blasted out of the sky. The whole thing sounds ridiculous. Shoot a few down and I'll wager that the "swarms" will disappear.

Indeed! I am sure those drones are not inexpensive and having a few of them disappear will make whoever is doing it reconsider.

quote:

Originally posted by 18DAI:
Check out Thedrive.com Several articles detailing these drones conducting surveillance of US Military bases and Energy infrastructure.

The most recent in Tucson at Davis Monthan AFB. The drome was spotted by a Police helicopter and persued. It was able to be seen in the low light of dusk. Five feet by three feet quad copter type.

BUT it was NOT visible on radar and the observer in the helicopter could not see it with NVGs. The drone outran the Police helicopter and was lost from sight after it passed into the overcast at 14K feet. NOT a battery powered civilian drone.

Speculation is it belongs to the Chicoms and is based in Mexico, where the Chicoms are working alongside Mexican drug cartels. Several of the articles over on Thedrive.com mention other swarms of drones over sensitive Nuclear facilities recently.

Too bad the US Military Command structure is too busy going Woke/Marxist to deal with this threat. Regards 18DAI

I can’t believe this isn’t a bigger story if they are flying around sensitive military and nuclear facilities unless they are ours.

Isn’t Bill Gates building a new nuclear facility.

It isn't a Big story because the Red Chinese own a majority of US Media. You know, the ones who tried to convine us that the Wuhan Plague came from bats. Regards 18DAI

From thedrive -

FAA Data Shows Strange Pattern Of Military Encounters With Unidentified Aircraft In Sensitive Airspace

Very interesting and informative article, if what is published is true.

The flight envelope of some of them as reported are quite broad.

For example:

December 18, 2017: Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina

PRELIM INFO FROM FAA OPS: KILL DEVIL HILLS, NC/UAS INCIDENT/1214E/FACSFAC VACAPES ADVISED F18 REPORTED A SILVER UAS TRAVELING E BOUND AT 70 KTS 1,000 FEET BELOW ACFT WHILE MANEUVERING AT 17,000 FEET 50 E KILL DEVIL HILLS, NC. NO EVASIVE ACTION TAKEN. LEOS NOT NOTIFIED. _x000D_ _x000D_

A separate incident was also reported:

PRELIM INFO FROM FAA OPS: KILL DEVIL HILLS, NC/UAS INCIDENT/1240E/FACSFAC VACAPES ADVISED E2 REPORTED AN UNKN UAS FLYING E BOUND AT 16,400 FEET VIA RADAR WHILE N BOUND AT FL210 64 ESE KILL DEVIL HILLS. F18 VERIFIED TRACK AND REPORTED 8 OTHER POSSIBLE UAS OPERATING IN THE SAME VCNTY. NO EVASIVE ACTION TAKEN. LEOS NOT NOTIFIED. _x000D_

April 30, 2018: Snow Hill, Maryland

PRELIM INFO FROM FAA OPS: SNOW HILL, MD/UAS INCIDENT/1245E/VIRGINIA CAPES ATCT ADVISED F18 REPORTED A SHINY ROUND BLACK UAS 500 FEET ABOVE ACFT WHILE CLIMBING FROM 16,500 FEET 16 SSE SNOW HILL. NO EVASIVE ACTION TAKEN. LEO WAS NOT NOTIFIED. _x000D_ _x000D_

November 20, 2020: Glendale, Arizona

PRELIM INFO FROM FAA OPS: GLENDALE, AZ/UAS INCIDENT/1315M/ALBUQUERQUE ARTCC ADVISED F16, REPORTED A BLACK UAS WHILE N BOUND AT 17,500 FEET WHILE OPERATING WITHIN THE GLADDEN MILITARY OPERATING AREA. NO EVASIVE ACTION TAKEN. LEO NOTIFICATION NOT REPORTED. NO OTHER INFORMATION GIVEN.

If they are flying around sensitive areas and they are not ours why hasn't one been shot down yet. At least an attempt. I guarantee if another countries jets are flying in our airspace and around sensitive facilities there would be a problem.

I wouldn’t put it past the Chicoms to be trying this, no sir.

Maybe we are starting to see play out what was portrayed in the movie Interstellar, where the Indian Air Force was flying drones over US territory circa 2060 or so to see how much food we had left:

Its amazing to me why drones operating in close proximity to Navy warships have not been immediately shot down. I can see not firing on one over a populated area, since a crashing drone (or ammo used to shoot it down) could be a hazard. But over open ocean? C'mon, Navy! Lets see some shooting!

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Its amazing to me why drones operating in close proximity to Navy warships have not been immediately shot down. I can see not firing on one over a populated area, since a crashing drone (or ammo used to shoot it down) could be a hazard. But over open ocean? C'mon, Navy! Lets see some shooting!

That’s what makes me think it must be ours. The problem is that many higher ups in the Navy sure act like they haven’t been told they are ours.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Its amazing to me why drones operating in close proximity to Navy warships have not been immediately shot down. I can see not firing on one over a populated area, since a crashing drone (or ammo used to shoot it down) could be a hazard. But over open ocean? C'mon, Navy! Lets see some shooting!

I suspect shooting down a drone is not as easy as it sounds. They are small and don't register on radar. Are there anti-air shotgun loads?

flashguy

I think an ordinary, garden variety belt fed machinegun might be effective. We should give it a try, anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:

Are there anti-air shotgun loads?

Yup, the beginnings of an entirely new outdoor sport.

Bigger skeeters ...