Drone
 Drone    | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | technology |
| Interest of | • Josh Begley • Peter Burt |
Contents
Global trade
Israel produced 60% of all drones manufactured from 1985 to 2015. US produced 24% followed by Canada at 6.4% and France with 1.6%. from 2010-2014, UK was the world's #1 importer of drones, with 1/3 of global drone imports.[1]
Combat use
As of September 2015, only 3 countries were known to have use lethal drones: US, UK and Israel. Israel used Gaza as a testing ground for development of drone technology.[1] Drones were initially developed for use by militaries in combat - both for general warfare and assassination of particular individuals - and then rolled out for use on civilians. Electronic Intifada reports that in 2014, Israel killed 840 people in Gaza.[1]
US Drone use
Former US drone operators describe a culture of callousness which sanctions the killing of civilians and children, report that alcohol and illegal drug use by operators is widespread, and describe the drone program as "one of the most devastating driving forces for terrorism and destabilization around the world", asking "Have we forgotten our humanity in the pursuit of vengeance and security?"[2] Only a small proportion of those killed by US drones are the intended targets.[3] A set of former drone operators charged in a 2015 press conference that "[the Obama] administration and its predecessors have built a drone program that is one of the most devastating driving forces for terrorism and destabilization around the world."[4]
Development
In 2015, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, the company that makes the Predator and Reaper drones, announced plans to integrate a 150KW laser onto its Avenger (née Predator-C) drone. The company suggested that this could be a reality by 2017.[5]
Non-combat use
In 2015, North Dakota became the first use state to allow Police use of drones armed with less than lethal weapons such as tasers, rubber bullets and tear gas after a last-minute push by a lobbyist.[6]
Mass surveillance
The UK Police report that drones have already proved useful in searching for missing people.[7] BBC announced in 2015 that UK police would start routine use of drones for mass surveillance, as part of the "war on terror". They also reported that the UK Police would take over responsibility for drone monitoring from the Civil Aviation Authority, preventing any effective oversight of drone use by UK police.[8]
The Brazilian government purchased a fleet of Hermes drones to help crush the massive protests that erupted across Brazil against the 2014 World Cup.[9][1]
Monitoring workers
In 2015, drones were used to capture video footage that shows construction progress at the Sacramento Kings’ new stadium in California. Drones capture video which is fed into a computer to create a 3d model of the progress of the construction.[10]
Regulation
The US Government announced in 2015 that it would require registration for anyone using a drone.[11]
An example
| Page name | Description |
|---|---|
| Heterogeneous Aerial Reconnaissance Team |
A Drone victim on Wikispooks
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| 'Jihadi John' | A British Arab man alleged to be the person seen in several atrocity videos obtained and published by SITE Intelligence Group - hard to tell fact from spin in the story, he is possibly a Wag the Dog person. |
Related Documents
| Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:Activism on trial: The Elbit Eight and Palestine solidarity | Article | 16 November 2023 | Fatimah Yasmin Ahmed | Eight activists are on trial this week at London’s Snaresbrook Crown Court for disrupting a lethal link in Israel’s military supply chain within the UK. Over the next six weeks, the Elbit Eight will fight in court to prove that Elbit Systems is guilty, and they are not. |
| Document:Exclusive: I Can Reveal the Legal Advice on Drone Strikes, and How the Establishment Works | article | 9 September 2015 | Craig Murray | Craig Murray reveals how Sir Daniel Bethlehem continues to bring a Zionist perspective to any legal advice emanating from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office |
| Document:Off the Leash: How the UK is developing the technology to build armed autonomous drones | Article | 10 November 2018 | Peter Burt | The United Kingdom should make an unequivocal statement that it is unacceptable for machines to control, determine, or decide upon the application of force in armed conflict and give a binding political commitment that the UK would never use fully autonomous weapon systems |
| Document:Spot-Shoot | article | 13 July 2010 | Jonathan Cook | On the use of drones against Palestinians |
| Document:The slandering of a Russian “Elon Musk” | article | 19 October 2020 | 'Rhys James' | A tongue-in-cheek analysis of strange goings-on in the Russian Drone design and manufacturing industry; but with a hard edge to it which plausibly suggests Isaeli-Mossad shenanigans |
| File:Living under drones.pdf | paper | September 2012 | International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic |
References
- ↑ a b c d https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/rania-khalek/sixty-percent-global-drone-exports-come-israel-new-data
- ↑ https://theintercept.com/2015/11/19/former-drone-operators-say-they-were-horrified-by-cruelty-of-assassination-program/
- ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/civilian-deaths-drone-strikes_561fafe2e4b028dd7ea6c4ff
- ↑ http://www.hangthebankers.com/us-drone-whistleblowers-bank-accounts/
- ↑ http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2015/09/drones-armed-high-energy-lasers-may-arrive-2017/121583
- ↑ http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/26/first-state-legalizes-armed-drones-for-cops-thanks-to-a-lobbyist.html
- ↑ http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/police-splash-out-more-4k-6368901
- ↑ http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-32431630
- ↑ http://www.thenation.com/article/exporting-gaza-arming-brazils-world-cup-security/
- ↑ http://www.technologyreview.com/news/540836/new-boss-on-construction-sites-is-a-drone/
- ↑ http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u-s-will-require-drones-be-registered-n446266
