"A riveting account of one of the most significant developments in contemporary warfare – the evolution and proliferation of drones. This is a very important book." – General David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.), former Commander of the Surge in Iraq, US Central Command, and Coalition and US Forces in Afghanistan, and former Director of the CIA
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN In April 2020 the US army in northern Iraq's Erbil Air Base conducted a "dronebuster" drill against an unmanned aerial system. The training exercise in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq illustrated how the "dronebuster jams communication between the pilot and the drone which forces the drone to either land or return …
Continue reading A look at US counter-drone ops in Iraq: Background and history
On June 20 an airstrike, alleged to be a from a drone, was reported in Syria near Al-Bab which is in the areas controlled by Turkey. It his a motorcycle. A thread provides some discussion of what happened, alleging it was carried out against an ISIS member and used the "ninja" missile AGM-114 R9X. https://twitter.com/WithinSyriaBlog/status/1274280728579264513 …
An article at Drone Life notes: "Recent contract for Black Hornets is an addition to the $39.7 million contract that the U.S. Army awarded FLIR in January of last year. The Black Hornets are designed to be used as part of the Army’s Soldier Borne Sensor (SBS) program." This illustrates that the US is still …
A report revealed that drones were used to monitor protests in the US. "Remember that drone in Minneapolis? It was part of a nationwide operation that sent helicopters, airplanes and drones over 15 cities where demonstrators gathered to protest the death of George Floyd, logging at least 270 hours of surveillance." https://twitter.com/KannoYoungs/status/1274097630000435200 See this: https://twitter.com/JetTipNet/status/1266405487739895814
During a recent airstrike over Idlib video of a US drone was captured. https://twitter.com/towersight/status/1272207996114948096
A new R9X reported strike in Syria adds to our knowledge of this weapon system.
How to fix this problem of US drone exports, wonders National Review? "First, reform MTCR — by executive order if necessary. If Congress and the State Department, which oversees the agreement, aren’t willing to take the blinders off on MTCR, then the president can and must. Let aircraft be aircraft, and missiles be missiles: The …
This post in progress will cover Reaper drones
In Jordan in 2019 US forces learned and showcased abilities with drones and counter-drones. In one photo a Marine shows how to use a Parrot Disco drone at King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center. "Soldiers were taught to recognize drone maneuvers in response to increased use by adversaries." A Phantom 4 was also used. …
Continue reading In Jordan for Eager Lion: Testing drones and counter-UAS
Drone Wars: The book 