Conn. Bill Would Allow Weaponized Drones For Police. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? - Charles D'Alberto

If a new bill authorizing the use of weaponized drones passes, Connecticut police officers would have the ability to use the flying machines to kill.

What could possibly go wrong?

The bill authorizing police use of “deadly” drones passed 34-7 in the state legislature’s joint Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. It is now pending the state House of Representatives, where it will be sent for debate and a vote, neither of which has been scheduled.

CNN reports that the law was originally written to ban the use of weaponized drones after a state resident, Austin Haughwout, attached a handgun and flamethrower to his drone on separate occasions.

From this, police got the bright idea to use the lethal machines for themselves. The bill to ban weaponized drones for citizens now includes an amendment that would allow police officers to attach its own weapons to drones, ostensibly to kill terrorists.

William Tong, co-chair of the Judiciary Committee, told CNN the entire bill is intended to improve public safety. Tong explained that under this law, the Police Officers Standards and Training Council would be responsible for creating guidelines on how officers should use drones.

The guidelines would be sent back to the state legislature for final approval.

A member of the police union, the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, says the drones would not be used to harm citizens, but protect them.

“No one is looking for law enforcement to arm drones for offensive purposes,” said Farmington Police Chief Paul Melanson. “The police didn’t want to preclude any possibility in the future of using the drones to protect citizens.”

But many are already up in arms (ahem) about the potential law. The head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, David McGuire, said there is potential for abuse.

“We’ve seen some police in Connecticut use disproportionate force against people of minorities, and we think that drones would exacerbate this problem,” McGuire told CNN. “We’ve been working hard to try and reestablish trust in law enforcement, and this bill sends the wrong message.”

A quick Google search shows that in the last year, there have been scores of documented police brutality cases in Connecticut including in Hartford, New London and Waterbury just to name a few.

“We don’t want these new technologies in our neighborhood because we know that eventually they will be abused and turned against us,” he said.

The question many ask is given history why wouldn’t they?

#Drones #Weapons #Police #Bill #Law #Charles_Dalberto #Perla_Group

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You Can Order a $400,000 Flying Car Right Now - Charles D'Alberto

The flying car is here! Woo! Dutch company PAL-V is on track to begin delivery of its Liberty flying car late next year, with the business officially opening up its order books to customers interested in owning the nearly half-million-dollar vehicle.

Equipped with a pair of engines—one each for ground and air travel—the two-seat Liberty is claimed to weigh a mere 1413 pounds. We assume this figure marks the Liberty's dry weight, as the vehicle's 26.4-gallon fuel tank is good for about 160 pounds of weight in gasoline alone. While PAL-V is keeping its lips sealed when it comes to the Liberty's powertrain specifics, here's what we do know: Both engines are supplied by the Austrian aircraft-engine manufacturer Rotax, and when left to its own devices on tarmac, the Liberty is said to produce 100 horsepower, achieve fuel economy of 31 mpg, and accelerate to 62 mph in less than nine seconds on its way to a 100-mph top speed.

PAL-V claims that the switch to flying mode takes between five and 10 minutes, with the company noting that most of the conversion process is done via the vehicle's Semi-Automatic Conversion System, leaving the driver/pilot the task of manually unfolding the Liberty's rotor blade, propeller, and tail. Entering flying mode transforms the Liberty from a 13.1-foot-long and 5.4-foot-tall car into a 20.1-foot-long and 10.5-foot-tall flying machine. In the sky, the Liberty's secondary engine makes 200 horsepower and can speed the craft through the air at speeds as high as 112 mph while reaching a maximum operating altitude of 11,480 feet. Those seeking efficiency, though, will want to cruise at a more economical flying speed of 87 mph, which gives the flying machine a maximum range of 310 miles. Add a passenger in the Liberty's second seat, though, and that range drops to 248 miles.

Of course, the PAL-V can't be flown by just anyone. The company notes that the Liberty's operator must have both a driver's and pilot's license to use the vehicle in its two forms. Likewise, a 10-to-15-minute pre-flight inspection is required before entering any airspace. Since this is the 21st century, PAL-V has developed an app that allows Liberty owners to calculate the time they're saving overall by flying as opposed to driving, letting customers know that the time spent during the pre-flight inspection really is worth it. The app also lets the operator know how many stops are needed to fly to a given destination, among other features.

Although the PAL-V Liberty starts at $399,000 for the Sport model, interested customers can choose to drop an additional $200,000 on one of the company's 90-unit run of Pioneer Edition models. While both the Sport and Pioneer Edition include a course to familiarize the Liberty's new owner with the vehicle's unique nature, as well as introductory training, only the Pioneer Edition comes standard with items such as dual controls, an electronic flight-instrument system, power heating, and carbon-fiber detailing. For what it's worth, PAL-V notes that each of those features can be added to the Sport as well.

Those interested in purchasing a Liberty will need to write a nonrefundable deposit check for $25,000 for the Pioneer Edition or $10,000 for the Sport. Alternatively, consumers can drop $2500 ($2000 of which is refundable) to lock in a spot on the Liberty's waiting list. While we're as enthralled by the idea of a series-production flying car as the next person, we'd personally take our hundreds of thousands of dollars and invest it in something that's liquid today.

#Flying_Car #Helicopter #Aviation #Charles_Dalberto #Perla_Group

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NATO Invests in More Bandwidth for New Data-Hungry Drones – Charles D’Alberto

A NATO Global Hawk surveillance drone on display at the alliance’s summit meeting 

in Warsaw last July. Deploying a fleet of the aircraft has increased the alliance’s

 need for greater satellite communications bandwidth.  P

hoto:  Eric Lalmand/Zuma Press 

BRUSSELS—The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is preparing to expand its satellite communications capability with contracts worth about $1.85 billion later this year as it prepares to field a new fleet of drones.

The alliance’s demand for satellite bandwidth has increased as its operational tempo has stepped up in recent years with the deployment of forces to its eastern flank and the development of a new system of surveillance drones.

The NATO Communications and Information Agency, which operates and defends the alliance’s computer networks and the missile defense command and control system, is slated to announce more than $3 billion in upcoming projects for defense contractors to bid on at a conference in Ottawa, Canada at the end of April.

The alliance is dedicating the biggest chunk of that money to expanding satellite-communication bandwidth for deployed forces and its headquarters.

NATO is acquiring five Global Hawk surveillance drones to be based at Signonella, Italy as part of the Alliance Ground Surveillance system. The first drone is due to be deployed to Europe later this year and will begin operations later this year or 2018.

A senior NATO official said those drones will create a huge demand for satellite data.
“The AGS drone is a huge collector of data, it is a vacuum cleaner of data,” said a NATO official. “Bandwidth is a problem for NATO, for most of the nations.”

In addition to the satellite contracts, NATO is set to move forward with contracts for cyberdefenses, the command and control of its missile defense systems and advanced software.

It can take up to three years from the announcement of a project to a contract to be bid and awarded, NATO officials said. Business consortia have been preparing to bid on the satellite contract, and the alliance is expecting to be able to move forward to receive bids on the project in late 2017.

The alliance provided no details of what companies might bid on the satellite contract. Typically companies put together consortia of firms from multiple alliance countries to bid on NATO contracts.

#NATO #Satellite #Telecommunications #Bandwidth #Drones #Perla_Group #Charles_Dalberto

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Helicopter regularly flown by Prince William escapes drone crash - Charles D'Alberto

Duke of Cambridge was not on board at time of incident, but investigators say mid-air collision was only avoided by luck

Prince William in the cockpit of the EC145 helicopter. Photograph: Olivia Howitt/Courtesy of BBC/Reuters

An air ambulance regularly piloted by the Duke of Cambridge “narrowly avoided” a collision with a remote-controlled drone, according to an official report.

The helicopter avoided a potentially deadly mid-air crash with the drone by “chance”, 580 metres (1,900ft) above north London at 7.45pm on 26 August.

Investigators found there had been a high risk of the two aircrafts coming into contact, “endangering the EC145 and its crew” over a busy area.

A report by the UK Airprox Board, which probes such incidents to improve air safety, suggested the drone was flying above its permitted altitude.

The Eurocopter 145, which is used by the East Anglian air ambulance (EAAA), has been flown regularly by the duke during his work for the service.

An EAAA spokeswoman said: “The Duke of Cambridge was not on shift when the drone incident took place.”

PRINCE WILLIAM TO BECOME AIR AMBULANCE PILOT

Duke of Cambridge plans to join East Anglian air ambulance next spring and will donate his salary to charity

The drone passed within 30 metres of the air ambulance, which had medics on board, and was close enough for the crew to see the four-bladed quadcopter.

In its findings, which concluded the incident was in the highest category of risk, Airprox said: “Members agreed that the drone was apparently being operated over a built-up area without CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) permission, was above the altitude where it could be considered in direct unaided line of sight and, if using FPV (first-person view), was above the 1000ft allowed by regulation.

“They therefore agreed that this could be considered as endangering the EC145 and its crew in that the drone had been flown into conflict.

“Notwithstanding the difficulty of visual assessment of range without visual cues, when allied to the pilot’s overall account of the incident the board considered that the reported range was such that this was a situation where a collision had only been narrowly avoided and chance had played a major part.

“They therefore determined the risk to be category A.”

The ambulance control room was contacted by the worried pilot, telling them to inform the police, it added.

A spokeswoman for EAAA said: “We can confirm that, in accordance with aviation regulations and procedures, a pilot reported a drone in his proximity on 26 August 2016.

“The Duke of Cambridge was not on shift when the drone incident took place.

“There are strict rules that drone operators must follow and it is important they are aware of their responsibilities for safe operations at all times.”

The drone pilot was never found, the report said.

#Drones #Helicopter #EC145 #Charles_Dalberto #Aviation

The Floating Helicopter – How It Was Shot – Charles D’Alberto

You may have seen a viral video clip doing the rounds on social media recently of a helicopter taking off with its rotors seemingly still. The result is a visual spectacle that we could never see with our own eyes. But how was the floating helicopter video shot?

In the helicopter video above – published by Munich-based cameraman Chris Fay who was on a world trip when he shot this video – the frame rate and shutter speed would have been synced perfectly to capture the ‘freeze frame’ effect of the propellers, with the shutter speed set much faster than the conventional 180-degree shutter speed, possibly 1/640 or even 1/1250 depending on how fast the propellers rotate per second.

The video is surreal, as it shows us something we can’t see with our eyes.

We got in touch with Chris to talk about how he shot the video:

"I shot this video in January in Hong Kong. I shot the Video using my Samsung S7

Smartphone set on „Pro“ Function, where you can adjust the ISO and the shutter

speed manually, so you have full control. To get rid of the motion blur you have

to set the shutter speed to a very high value.

The Original Video is captured in QHD, which is 2560 x 1440 Pixels on the S7.

The frame rate was 30 fps. I am guessing that the helicopter had a rotation speed of about 6 rounds per seconds and as the 30 fps in the camera is a multiple of that, the blades do look like they are not moving. The helicopter does have the same RPM speed (rounds per minute) when lifting off, it just adjust the tilt of the blades in order to lift off. This circumstance helped to create this illusion."

It’s a cool effect that you can try on any camera and, we now know, even on a smartphone! So why not give it a go?

#Helicopter #Charles_Dalberto #Perla_Group #Aviation

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Lockheed Martin is helping out with QueSST – NASA’s Quiet Supersonic Transport - Charles D'Alberto

Lockheed Martin is completing preliminary design of a low-boom flight demonstrator as part of NASA’s Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) project. The single-engine, Mach 1.4+ X-plane is intended to mimic the shockwave signature of a 100- to 120-seat supersonic airliner and show that a shaped sonic boom of 75 PLdB is quiet enough to permit supersonic flight over land. NASA plans to fly the competitively procured X-plane in 2019 and begin community acceptance testing in 2020.

The ability to fly supersonic over land will be the game changer for supersonic business jets, but that’s not likely to happen for another 10 to 15 years, says Gulfstream, which is actively but quietly studying the concept.

“The earliest will be 2025-2030,” says Dan Nale, SVP for programs, engineering and test. “That’s the earliest the ICAO process can change the rules to allow it.” Meanwhile Gulfstream, which has conducted more studies into supersonic flight and mitigation of the sonic boom than any other business jet manufacturer, continues to carry out original research, participate in regulatory issues and undertake paper studies.

“We’re doing a lot of the preliminary design studies,” says Nale, who believes the sonic boom and engine emissions from flying that fast at altitude will be the two major issues to overcome. Next step is for NASA to fly its proposed supersonic demonstrator, on which it is working with Lockheed Martin. “Gulfstream is involved as part of NASA’s consulting review panel,” he adds.

Gulfstream believes the aircraft must be shaped to minimize the boom, and to that end it earlier test-flew an extending nose on a NASA F-15. That Pinocchio-like proboscis is now on display in the lobby of the company’s advanced acoustics lab in Savannah.

#Lockhead #NASA #Aviation #SuperSonic #FighterJets #Charles_Dalberto #Perla_Group

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Freedom soars over Adriatic Sea - Charles D'Alberto

AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy–F-16 Fighting Falcons assigned to the 555th Fighter Squadron participated in a training flight over the Adriatic Sea on Oct. 25, 2016. Pilots from the 555th and 510th Fighter Squadrons train regularly to ensure they can deter aggression, defend U.S. and NATO interests, and develop Aviano through superior combat air power. The two squadrons fly more than 20,000 hours a year combined to ensure they can provide combat airpower to U.S. and NATO combatant commanders and the National Command Authority to meet national security objectives.

#F_16 #Adriatic #NATO #Military #FighterJets #Aviation #Charles_Dalberto #Perla_Group

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