DefenceTalkBy Jody Ray Bennett In January 2013, US military officials finalized a Status of Forces (SOFA) agreement with the government of Niger to increase military involvement throughout the country. While the move clearly reflected developments in neighboring Mali, it had long been an operational goal of the Pentagon to establish a drone base in the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/niger-new-drone-base-highlights-a-shift-in-us-west-african-relations-47985/

DefenceTalkA week after President Barack Obama cracked the lid of secrecy on his drone war, the United States refused Wednesday to confirm it had killed a top Pakistani Taliban leader in an airborne attack. Pakistani security and intelligence sources said that Waliur Rehman, deputy leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had perished in an American […]https://www.defencetalk.com/after-vowing-transparency-us-silent-on-drone-killing-47949/

DefenceTalkKANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan: An MQ-1 Predator assigned here recently became the first Predator to pass 20,000 flying hours over Afghanistan, a feat equivalent to flying 15 hours every other day, for 2,667 days. While the Predator remotely piloted aircraft program surpassed one million hours of total development, test, training and combat in August 2011, this […]https://www.defencetalk.com/predator-passes-20000-hour-mark-in-afghanistan-47933/

DefenceTalkUnmanned aerial vehicle pilots maintain an “eye-in-the-sky” view providing real-time surveillance high above the battlefield in order to keep Soldiers safe from unexpected “enemy” attacks, at the U.S. Army National Training Center, here. Before putting Soldiers in harm’s way, military unmanned aerial vehicles, known as UAVs, perform aerial reconnaissance, be it night or day. At […]https://www.defencetalk.com/uav-pilots-maintain-situational-awareness-above-battlefield-47919/

DefenceTalkPulling the plug on Germany’s Euro Hawk project won’t have consequences for NATO’s surveillance program using “Global Hawk” models. But critics argue a joint European drone project would have been better. The canceled German Euro Hawk drone project will most likely not have consequences on a similar project by NATO. The alliance plans to use […]https://www.defencetalk.com/nato-drone-project-set-to-continue-47912/

DefenceTalkThe Euro Hawk is still making waves in Germany, even after the defense ministry pulled the plug on the surveillance drone project last week. The problems were obvious long before the debacle. The German representatives involved in the Euro Hawk project still sounded confident back in December of 2012. “The project has reached a level […]https://www.defencetalk.com/german-defense-ministry-was-aware-of-euro-hawk-doubts-47874/

DefenceTalkThe Navy’s newest unmanned Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft platform, the MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), completed its first flight from Palmdale, Calif. May 22, marking the start of tests which will validate the Northrop Grumman-built system for future fleet operations. During the 80-minute flight in restricted airspace, the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/navy-triton-unmanned-aircraft-system-completes-first-flight-47872/

DefenceTalkUnmanned weapons systems are fast becoming an indispensable aspect of modern warfare. But their use raises ethical questions which Germany has just begun to address. The growing use of so-called remote-controlled drones for surveillance and active warfare has raised a number of ethical questions, prompting a debate between supporters and opponents of the technology in […]https://www.defencetalk.com/drone-use-raises-ethical-questions-in-germany-47863/

DefenceTalkIsraeli original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have aggressively marketed these platforms, helping them become the top exporter of UAS platforms, globally. A recent Frost & Sullivan market insight, “Israeli Unmanned Aerial Systems,” finds that Israel’s UAS export revenue totaled $4.62 billion from 2005 to 2012. The top purchaser of these exports […]https://www.defencetalk.com/israel-is-top-global-exporter-of-unmanned-aerial-systems-47839/

DefenceTalkRaytheon Company has delivered two electronic attack payloads in support of the U.S. Army’s Networked Electronic Warfare, Remotely Operated (NERO) system. The payloads were delivered as part of a contract awarded by the U.S. Navy NAVSEA-Crane in 2012. NERO is utilized on the Army’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAS (Umanned Aircraft System) as an airborne electronic […]https://www.defencetalk.com/raytheon-delivers-electronic-jamming-capability-for-gray-eagle-uas-47795/