RAF chief: Our Reaper drones (sorry, SkyGuardians) stand ready to help British councils
- Reference: 1631291173
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/09/10/raf_skyguardian_drones_local_authorities_help/
- Source link:
Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, head of the RAF, made the bizarre pledge about local authority assistance in a speech announcing the unmanned aircraft's arrival at Lincolnshire's RAF Waddington.
"Over the next few weeks we'll be working with the Civil Aviation Authority, civilian authorities, and allies to confirm our ability to operate this aircraft freely in UK and international airspace," said the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), referring to the drone by its RAF name of Protector.*
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The air marshal [2]added : "We will also confirm its enormous operational utility from assisting local authorities to supporting maritime operations in the North Atlantic."
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Exactly why the RAF would be assisting local councils with an aircraft capable of [5]mounting 18 Brimstone missiles wasn't explained in CAS's speech, though the SkyGuardian variant of the Reaper, as bought by the RAF, can also mount aerial surveillance equipment.
[6]Cop drone crashes into flight instructor's airplane
[7]South Korea to test grenade-launching drones
[8]Pentagon grounds own report that said China's DJI drones are safe
[9]An anti-drone system that sneezes targets to death? Would that be a DARPA project? You betcha
SkyGuardian was designed to be flyable in civilian-controlled airspace, integrating safely with manned aviation in a way that doesn't require large parts of the sky to be sanitised of all other aircraft (as the Army's [10]disastrous Watchkeeper drone still requires).
So far no military drone has been safety certified as a civilian aeroplane capable of being flown in the same airways as passenger airliners. One of the RAF's objectives is to trial its new SkyGuardian drone in British skies to achieve that certification. This will mean experiments aimed at developing procedures for both pilots and air traffic controllers alike.
The Armed Forces previously [11]provided aerial surveillance to civilian police , latterly through Britten-Norman Islander aircraft based at RAF Northolt.
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The Islanders have since [13]fallen victim to defence cuts , meaning police forces – and apparently local councils – may fancy tasking a couple of Reapers to detect and punish Mrs Miggins' heinous crime of putting the recycling bin out on garden waste collection day. ®
Dronenote
*Britain renamed its MQ-9 Reapers a few years ago for fairly obvious reasons. Although it's been variously branded SkyGuardian, Protector and Predator, these are all trade names for the basic MQ-9 drone airframe developed by US company General Atomics.
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[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/edgeiot&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YTvVoSLQ5ELAQ1IgWB5wUgAAABI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/chief-of-the-air-staff-speech-on-sky-guardian
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/edgeiot&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YTvVoSLQ5ELAQ1IgWB5wUgAAABI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/edgeiot&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YTvVoSLQ5ELAQ1IgWB5wUgAAABI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://twitter.com/JosephHDempsey/status/1019585082011635713
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/23/canadian_drone_strike/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/06/south_korea_grenade_toting_drones/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/26/pentagon_grounds_own_report_that/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/10/darpa_antidrone_system/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2019/08/29/wk050_full_daib_crash_report_aberporth/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2011/10/31/met_police_datong_mobile_tracking/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/edgeiot&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YTvVoSLQ5ELAQ1IgWB5wUgAAABI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.standard.co.uk/business/lift-off-home-office-privatises-mi5-s-spy-plane-operations-a3965671.html
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Posse Comitatus Act
Maybe Britain needs one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act
Re: Posse Comitatus Act
Following our glorious military victory in Afghanistan we now declare war on fly-tipping ?
Re: Posse Comitatus Act
I don't think so.
I think our existing legislation works just fine.
I once watched a [unarmed] policeman arrest a soldier for carrying a loaded weapon in a public place. The soldier wasn't some lunatic; he was following orders that hadn't been properly thought through.
Can't they just rent them out?
Amazon has been looking at using drones for years and these ones drop things, so perfect fit!
Isn't it obvious?
Put out you bins out on the wrong day.... BLAM! No more bin for you sunshine!
Hope we don't get another lockdown
Or Derbyshire Police will be on the 'phone to the RAF.
"If the Citizens refuse to behave even when we used the spy-in-the-sky, then we'll have to take more extreme measures."
(though having typed that, I'm not sure if that's Derbyshire Police or Judge Dredd)
Mrs Miggins?
Does she provide a slap up lunch in her pie shop?
capable of being flown in the same airways as passenger airliners
Get a flight with ryanair - get shot down FOR LESS!!!
Er ...
Allegedly the drones are already equipped to deal with "Old Farmer's bin loading" or something like that.
... can also mount aerial surveillance equipment
So you get a photo of the smoking crater where your car was recently incorrectly parked together with an £18,000 bill for the missile used to take out your car and the whole block surrounding it?
Moments like these need @RAF_Luton
Local councils keeping an eye on 'Alans Snack Bar' methinks :o)
Sill they be armed with…
Anti BMW & anti Audi lane hogging missles?
Re: Sill they be armed with…
Sadly, it's not just them any more. Since the first lockdown and large numbers of people not driving much, to a summer where going abroad was risky, time consuming and potentially exorbitantly expensive, we now have people who pre-pandemic rarely drove far, during pandemic barely drove at all and now are driving all over the UK on holidays and think the left lane is only for lorries and have taken out membership of the Middle Lane Owners Club.
Re: Sill they be armed with…
It just isn’t the middle lane anymore - I regularly drive the M1 from London to Yorkshire, on the 4 lane stretches, the sheer numbers of morons sat in the 3rd lane from the left is shocking. Well, it was shocking, not any more.
No more public education messages on TV and no police enforcement other than by always on cameras (and only for speeding) means we’re moving towards a US freeway model with 3 or 4 lanes of parallel traffic vice ‘overtaking’ lanes. The only time I’ve seen the police over the last few months has been during an accident or using the road as a way to move around the county - normally in convoy. Never thought I’d say this but get them back on the roads enforcing basic driving standards!
Re: Sill they be armed with…
The US is different though. It's legal there to overtake on the inside, with the result of considerably less stress all round. Contrary to the huff-and-puff here.
New livery
Will they get a shiny new paint job for it's civilian work like the Boris Force 1 Voyager?
From RIPA to Reaper
Don't give local authorities ideas - they used RIPA to check on school kids attending schools out of catchment area - what will they get up to with a Reaper
Re: From RIPA to Reaper
Yeah, I can understand the Police using military resources at times to assist with operations, but Local Authorities? What might they currently use aerial surveillance for? Anything thing they'd normally need, I'd expect them to hire in the relevant commercial services, eg aerial photography or whatever. Military aerial assistance implies some sort of emergency and the emergency service, eg fire and police should be dealing with that.
Re: From RIPA to Reaper
Local authorities think they are more important than they are.
Incompetent, don't get me started, I've seen it first hand.
So much money wasted.
Underfunded, yes.
But if they had any idea of what the outside world works like they would offer 3 or 4 times more value for money.
Give them an inch (pea shooter) they'll take a mile (hellfire) to get you for stopping (not parking) in a car park. Fuckers.
Also, try getting in touch with them to complain...
My local council don't take phone calls unless legally obligated, e.g. noise nuisance.
Even then the call is not always answered.
Grrrrr.
Time to get tough
"Exactly why the RAF would be assisting local councils with an aircraft capable of mounting 18 Brimstone missiles wasn't explained in CAS's speech"
Littering, graffiti, fly tipping and spitting in the street, they are big issues for most councils.
Some collateral damage maybe, with a few demolished buildings, but the town centre could do with some new buildings anyway, a fresh start, and providing work for local builders :)