More than 400 US military drones lost in crashes: report

WASHINGTON: The 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 mechanical breakdowns, human error and foul weather.

"Military drones have slammed into homes, farms, runways, highways, waterways and, in one case, an Air Force C-130 Hercules transport plane in midair," it said.

Of the 418 known crashes between September 11, 2001 and the end of 2013, the Post said it had identified 194 so-called Class A crashes that resulted in either the total loss of a drone or damages in excess of $2 million.

The total figure is almost equal to the number of major crashes involving US Air Force fighter jets and attack planes during the same period -- even though the drones flew far fewer missions and hours.

Sixty-seven drone crashes occurred in Afghanistan, and 41 in Iraq, but 47 occurred within the United States during test and training flights, the Post said on its website.

One army drone crashed near an elementary school playground in Pennsylvania in April, while a Reaper belonging to the air force disappeared into Lake Ontario in upstate New York in November.

The hefty Predator -- arguably the best-known American military drone -- was involved in 102 Class A crashes, followed by the smaller Hunter and larger Reaper models with 26 and 22 losses respectively.

The Post´s investigation comes as the Federal Aviation Administration drafts a set of regulations to govern an expected surge in the use of commercial drones in the coming years.

The United States owns about 10,000 drones, from the one-pound (0.5-kilogram) Wasp drone that combat troops can deploy in a firefight to the huge Global Hawk high-altitude reconnaissance platform.

Linking military operation to drones misleading: FO

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) has strongly rejected that drone attacks are being carried out in the tribal areas with Pakistan’s consent.

At her weekly news briefing in Islamabad on Thursday, FO Spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said it was completely misleading and wrong to link these strikes with the ongoing operation in North Waziristan. She said that Pakistan condemned the recent incidents of US drone strikes that took place near Miramshah in North Waziristan during the early hours of Wednesday.

The spokesperson added that Pakistan regarded such strikes a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. She said these strikes also had a negative impact on the government’s efforts to bring peace and stability in Pakistan and the region.

Referring to previous statements and efforts of Pakistan on the drone issue, the spokesperson said Pakistan had agitated the issue at various international fora and presented and passed a number of resolutions against the drone strikes.

She said a resolution, sponsored by Pakistan, was also passed by the Human Rights Council on drone strikes and that Pakistan had also taken up the issue of drone strikes with the US officials at various levels to lodge its protest.

In response to another question about the military operation in North Waziristan and contact with the Afghan leadership, the spokesman said Pakistan had conveyed to the Afghan leadership that the operation was the need of the hour and aimed to purge the area from extremist and terrorist elements.

She said there was a need for better border management and parallel steps on the other side so that no terrorist could escape into Afghanistan. She said Pakistan has emphasised that there should be better management across the border this time and the Afghan government should also take adequate steps so that there could be no disturbance and interference from the Afghan side in this operation.

On the presence of Maulvi Fazlullah in Afghanistan, Tasneem Aslam said Pakistan does not allow the use of its territory against the neighbouring country and expects the same from Afghanistan.

Responding to a question about asking the Canadian government to stop Dr Tahirul Qadri from travelling to Pakistan as he is a Canadian citizen, the spokesperson said although there were international norms in this regard yet Qadri was also a Pakistani citizen and, therefore, this law was not applicable.

Commenting on the forthcoming visit of Adviser to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz to the Russian Federation, the spokesperson said he will attend a conference but he will also meet his Russian counterpart during this visit and discuss the bilateral relations and regional situation.

The spokesperson said Pak-Russian ties had been on a positive trajectory in the last few years and these relations were improving in different fields. She said Sartaj Aziz will discuss with the Russian leadership ways and means to further improve these ties, especially in trade and economic sectors.

Replying to a question on the latest situation in Iraq, the spokesperson said, “We are concerned about the escalation of violence in Iraq. Pakistan wants stable, peaceful and calm, not only in Iraq, but also in the region.”

The spokesperson said Pakistan’s envoy in Baghdad had informed that all the Pakistanis living in Iraq were safe and sound as they were living away from the disturbed areas.Replying to a question, the spokesperson said there were 281 Pakistanis in different prisons of China. She said 90 percent of these Pakistani prisoners were held on charges of drug and illegal trade activities while very few were in jails on the charge of illegal entry or stay in China.On question of any contact between Pakistan and India, the spokesperson said the two sides were in contact with each other.

Drones for fun, games and more

NEW YORK: It may be a while before drones start patrolling American skies or delivering packages, but kids and adults will be able to command their own personal flying devices very soon.

The French electronics firm Parrot on Tuesday unveiled its "Rolling Spider" and "Jumping Sumo" mini-drones to go on sale in the US market in August.

"We wanted to create connected robots for the generations of smartphones and tablets," Parrot spokeswoman Vanessa Loury told AFP at a demonstration in New York.

The mini-drones are controlled by mobile apps loaded on tablets and phones using Apple´s iOS or the Google Android platform, Parrot said.

With these new devices, "everything around you becomes an excuse to play, and the world transforms into a giant playground," said a statement from Parrot.

"Rolling Spider" has four rotors and can also be adapted to move on two wheels to roll on the ground or on a wall. It features "kid-friendly piloting."

"Jumping Sumo" is a two-wheeled device which can jump up to 80 centimeters (2.6 feet). It can spin, roll and take pictures with a wide-angle camera.

The devices will sell for $100 dollars and $160 in the US, and will be sold in France for 99 and 159 euros.

Parrot is also known for its civilian and professional drones, including one that can be used for mapping and for agricultural crop monitoring.

In the United States, the question of drones is still being studied by aviation officials, although these types of toys may be flown at low altitudes.

As for the question of drones for package delivery -- as envisioned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos -- Parrot said the time has not yet arrived.

"Delivering packages is a long way off," said Parrot executive Peter George.

"I can´t see that happening for 20 years." But George added that with the devices, "it´s really been about having fun with toys." (AFP)

US drones hit Miranshah after six-month gap

 

PESHAWAR: After a gap of almost six months, the US drone strikes resumed in Miranshah of North Waziristan Agency (NWA) on Wednesday, the latest attack killing six suspected militants. It was the first strike by the CIA-operated spy planes after December 25, 2013 in the North Waziristan tribal region.
In the second strike, six missiles were fired on Danday Darpakhel area of Miramshah. There were no reports of casualties till the filing of this report. Official and local tribal sources said the first drone fired two missiles and hit a mini-truck in Tabi Tolkhel village, eight kilometres northwest of Miranshah, the administrative headquarters of North Waziristan, along the Afghan border.

“According to intercepts of the militants, six people were killed and some others injured in the drone strike on the mini-truck in Tabi village on the Miranshah-Ghulam Khan Road,” a local administration official said.

Pleading anonymity, he said a large number of armed people reached the spot after the drone disappeared.The militants reportedly retrieved the bodies of the slain men and shifted them to an unknown location.

Official sources in Miranshah said that four among the six killed in the drone attack were Uzbek militants and two were members of the so-called Punjabi Taliban.

On December 25, 2013, the drone had fired four missiles and struck a mud-house in the Qutabkhel village, located two kilometres east of Miranshah, and killed four people, two of them reportedly Arab, one Punjabi and another a local tribal militant.

Tribesman in the area saiddrone strikes in Pakistan after the Pakistan government started peace negotiations with the local Taliban in late January 2014.However, now when the talks have almost fizzled out after the recent devastating Taliban attack on the airport in Karachi, the government is reportedly preparing to launch a military operation in North Waziristan.

Abdullah Bahar Mehsud, a senior Pakistani Taliban commander and spokesman for commander Shehryar Mehsud group that claims to represent the faction of Hakimullah Mehsud and having links with Uzbek militants, told this correspondent on phone that the Karachi airport assault was a joint work of the Pakistani Taliban and Uzbek militants.

“It was our joint operation in which our Uzbek brothers played an important role. I can’t tell you about the nature of support they provided us but in operations like the Karachi airport, one group provides fighters while another arranges finances for weapons and explosives,” he said.

Abdullah Bahar said they were working with their Uzbek brothers and there would be more devastating attacks in the near future. “The government will forget the Karachi attack after we carry out other attacks on them,” he threatened.

Drones unearth more details about Chaco culture

ALBUQUERQUE: Recently published research describes how archaeologists outfitted a customized drone with a heat-sensing camera to unearth what they believe are ceremonial pits and other features at the site of an ancient village in New Mexico.

The discovery of the structures hidden beneath layers of sediment and sagebrush is being hailed as an important step that could help archaeologists shed light on mysteries long buried by eroding desert landscapes from the American Southwest to the Middle East. The results of the research were published earlier this month in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

Since the 1970s, archaeologists have known that aerial images of thermal infrared wavelengths of light could be a powerful tool for spotting cultural remains on the ground. But few have had access to million-dollar satellites, and helicopters and planes have their limits.

Now, technology is catching up with demand.

Archaeologists can get quality images from very specific altitudes and angles at any time of day and in a range of weather using inexpensive drones and commercially available cameras that have as much as five times the resolution of those available just a few years ago. A basic eight-rotor drone starts at about $3,700.

Jesse Casana, an archaeologist at the University of Arkansas, teamed up with University of North Florida professor John Kantner last summer to test the drones in a remote area of northwestern New Mexico, south of Chaco Canyon - once the cultural and religious center of ancient Puebloan society.

Kantner has been studying a village in the area known as Blue J. He found two households at the village's edge through test digs, but much of Blue J's secrets remain buried under eroded sandstone and wind-blown silt.

Blue J was most active close to 1,000 years ago, around the same time as Chaco. So finding structures such as kivas and great houses at the site would help solidify the theory that Chaco's influence spread far and wide. Kivas are circular, subterranean meeting places associated with ceremonial activities. Great houses were massive multistory stone buildings, some of which were oriented to solar and lunar directions and offered lines of sight between buildings to allow for communication.

Aside from dozens of anthills, the drone picked up on much larger, unnatural circular shapes that are thought to be kivas. From the surface, these structures are invisible, Kantner said. He said crews can use the drone information to plan a dig at the location to search for the archaeological remnants.

"Really within a few hours we were able to survey this area that took me a long time, years of what we call ground reconnaissance and excavation to see what's below the surface," he said. "So this is great for quickly and pretty cheaply being able to find sites."

There already is talk about using the drones in other dry environments such as Saudi Arabia and Cyprus, where the difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures would be great enough to allow the heat signatures of buried stone structures or other features to pop up on the thermal images.

Some researchers also have suggested using drone technology to search for a lost Spanish fort in Georgia and along the banks of Florida's St. Johns River, Kantner said.

Sarah Parcak, an archaeologist at the University of Alabama in Birmingham who was not involved in the New Mexico research, said she's excited about the potential for using the technology in her work in Egypt. She said drones outfitted with sensors can hone in on what's most important in archaeology - the landscape and features that are buried beneath the ground.

"We think we know a site, and we've been working there for a long time, and lo and behold, new technologies show us things we weren't even expecting," Parcak said. "The great thing about remote sensing is it really gives you a new set of eyes in the sky to see what is otherwise invisible."

The drones have their limits. For example, flights usually are less than 15 minutes depending on battery power and camera weight, and the eight-rotor mini copters have been known to stop and come crashing to the ground.

There also are questions about whether federal regulators will toughen rules governing drone flights.

Kantner said as drones become more reliable, their ability to survey vast areas quickly will become even more important. He pointed to potential threats of oil and gas development and coal and uranium mining throughout the Chaco region.

"There are resources that we obviously need for our nation's self-sufficiency, but on the other hand, we don't want to give away our cultural patrimony by losing these archaeology sites," he said.

Use of drones should be under global law

 

GENEVA: The United Nations called on all states on Friday to ensure that the use of armed drones complies with international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law, backing a proposal from Pakistan.
A resolution presented by Pakistan on behalf of co-sponsors, including Yemen and Switzerland, did not single out any state.The United States is the biggest armed drone user in conflicts, including those in Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan and Somalia.

“The purpose of this resolution is not to shame or name anyone, as we are against this approach,” Pakistan’s Permanent Representative at the UN Ambassador Zamir Akram told the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). “It is about supporting a principle.”

The United States prizes drones for their accuracy against al-Qaeda and Taliban militants. Pakistan says they kill civilians and infringe its sovereignty.“The United States is committed to ensuring that our actions, including those involving remotely piloted aircraft, are undertaken in accordance with all applicable domestic and international law and with the greatest possible transparency, consistent with our national security needs,” Paula Schriefer, US deputy assistant secretary of state, told the talks.

The resolution was adopted by a vote of 27 states in favour to six against, with 14 abstentions at the 47-member Geneva forum. The United States, Britain and France voted against.The resolution urges all states to ensure that any measures employed to counter terrorism, including armed drones, comply with their obligations under international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, international human rights law and international humanitarian law, in particular the principles of precaution distinction and proportionality.

The text voiced concern at civilian casualties resulting from the use of remotely-piloted aircraft or armed drones, as highlighted by the UN special investigator on counter-terrorism Ben Emmerson in a recent report.It called on UN human rightsexpert discussions on armed drones and report back in September.

The United States, Britain and France said it was not appropriate for the forum to put weapons systems on its agenda. The Obama administration preferred to discuss drones under an initiative of Switzerland and the International Committee of the Red Cross, which it hoped would provide a “non-politicised forum” where military experts can discuss law of war issues, Schriefer said.

Akram, speaking before the vote, said opposition “can only lead to the conclusion that these States are guilty of violating applicable international law and demonstrate that they are afraid of being exposed in the expert panel”.

A separate UN human rights watchdog called on the Obama administration on Thursday to limit its use of drones and to curb US surveillance activities.The heavy mandate in favour of the resolution came about despite stiff opposition and intensive lobbying against the resolution by the US, the UK and France. As a result several European Union countries which are currently members of the Council were forced to change their votes. However, they refused to vote against the resolution and abstained. The only exception was Ireland which took a principled stance in support of the resolution.

According to the Pakistan’s Mission in Geneva, the adoption of the resolution by heavy majority underscored the success of Pakistan’s diplomacy in garnering international support for its principled position on the use of armed drones in violation of international law. This would further strengthen the country s efforts to address the issue of drones, it added.

US drones hover over tribal belt as TTP, govt talk in NWA

ISLAMABAD: As the government committee and the Taliban leadership hold direct talks in North Waziristan, US drones started hovering over the tribal belt considered to be the safe haven of the most feared terror outfit on Wednesday.

The flights of unmanned CIA operated drones in North Waziristan come hours after Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hailed the 90-day pause in US drone strikes.

The pro-talks lobby in Pakistan has been blaming Washington for sabotaging Islamabad’s earlier efforts to engage the militants in negotiations to put an to the bloodshed which saw over 40000 people being killed across the country.

Government of Pakistan had also strongly condemned US after drones killed TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud in the past.