DefenceTalkChina deployed more than 1,200 troops and scrambled fighter jets in response to an unauthorised flight near Beijing airport by what turned out to be a mapping drone, state-run media reported Thursday. Three men are being prosecuted over the incident, the China Daily said. It cited prosecutors as saying that 1,226 military personnel, 123 military […]https://www.defencetalk.com/mapping-drone-prompts-china-to-scramble-fighter-jets-60837/

DefenceTalkIran on Tuesday unveiled a new missile-equipped drone to boost its military arsenal, as part of events marking the end of its 1980-1988 war against Iraq. Iranian engineers working for the armed forces have “built the drones to carry air defence missiles”, deputy defence minister General Amir Hatami said, quoted by Fars news agency. “The […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iran-unveils-new-missile-equipped-drone-60635/

DefenceTalkA new Chinese unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) set a new record for the country’s remote sensing drones by flying for more than 30 hours consecutively, the UAV’s developer, the Chinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping (CASM), announced on Wednesday. The previous record time was 16 hours. Coupled with China’s Beidou Navigation Satellite System, the UAV […]https://www.defencetalk.com/chinese-remote-sensing-drone-sets-30-hour-flying-record-60153/

DefenceTalkThe United States has lost more than 400 military drones in major crashes worldwide since 2001, The Washington Post said Friday in a report questioning the safety and reliability of the unmanned aircraft. Citing 50,000 pages of accident investigation reports, the Post said military drones have since the 9/11 attacks “malfunctioned in myriad ways,” including […]https://www.defencetalk.com/more-than-400-us-military-drones-lost-in-crashes-report-59964/

DefenceTalkWashington vowed Wednesday to boost aid to Iraq and is mulling drone strikes amid fears Iraqi forces are crumbling in face of militants increasingly emboldened since the US withdrawal. Iraqi officials have already privately asked the US to consider sending in drones to root out militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-may-send-in-drones-to-iraq-to-battle-militants-59855/

DefenceTalkCautious US aviation regulators announced Tuesday they have given oil company BP the first commercial license to fly a drone aircraft over land. The Federal Aviation Administration gave BP and unmanned aircraft system (UAS) builder AeroVironment permission to use a drone for surveys of oil exploration and pipeline areas in Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay area. The […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-gives-bp-first-license-to-fly-drone-over-land-59851/

DefenceTalkWireless products maker Parrot unveiled a drone Sunday aimed squarely at smartphone or tablet owners keen on getting bird’s eye views of the world. Parrot billed its Bebop Drone as a flying high-quality camera that will land in the market in the final three months this year. The Paris-based maker of wireless accessories for automobiles […]https://www.defencetalk.com/parrot-launching-smartphone-controlled-drones-59567/

DefenceTalkAn unmanned aircraft of the sort Israel uses for surveillance and missile strikes in Gaza crashed in the south of the territory early on Tuesday, sources on both sides said. “A Sky Rider drone crashed in the southern Gaza Strip due to a technical malfunction,” an Israeli army spokeswoman told AFP. “An investigation is under […]https://www.defencetalk.com/israel-drone-crashes-in-gaza-58983/

DefenceTalkThe US military faces a chronic shortage of surveillance aircraft in Africa needed to track extremists on the continent, particularly in the Sahel region, a top general said Thursday. Only seven percent of the military’s requirements for reconnaissance and surveillance planes — including drones and other aircraft — were met last year in Africa, said […]https://www.defencetalk.com/for-us-forces-in-africa-spy-drones-in-short-supply-58966/

DefenceTalkThe US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, better known as DAPRA, presented concept images of its scheme to pair up the US military with modular drones named Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System (ARES for short), capable of transforming to comply with the needs of different missions. The ARES drone will be utilized as an unmanned vehicle […]https://www.defencetalk.com/meet-ares-darpas-newest-transformer-style-drones-under-development-58805/