Unmanned Drones To Invade U.S. Airspace In 2015

This means we'll need more than "tin foil hats" to keep away from government eyes now!

Oh, just great! Another attempt by the bloated US Government to keep tabs (ie, spying and observance) on the ordinary US Citizens rather than on the militias and would be terrorists......just another erosion of our Liberties guaranteed under the Constitution, especially in light of recently signed legislation by the Prez.

I don't like it one iota. What is extremely scary is that the vast majority of Americans know nothing about the newly enacted laws, that there has been barely a whisper about it from the media, and that US Citizens aren't speaking out against it, as if they were sheep being lead to slaughter!

Something stinks in Denmark, and it ain't the fish....

Off topic. It isn't the Govt you need to worry about watching over your shoulder, it is the corporations. If you have a problem with your civil liberties, talk to your govt about taking them away from corporations and returning them to you.

On topic. This will allow police and border patrol to lower operating costs to perform their duties. It will also make it cheaper for researchers to conduct atmospheric research and get a birds-eye view of ground based projects.

Drew K

Now, now, come on folks lets not panic, calm down, calm down.

Let's put those foil hats away, no need for those!

OK, OK, hold it down a minute.... listen up and I will explain.

Like the article said, the drones will be used "for border patrols, for instance".

Perhaps some periodic levee inspections, weather observations, maybe even some crop data for the Dept. of AG but to be used to spy on you? PERISH THE THOUGHT!

Our drones would never be used to spy on our countrymen/women!

You can believe me........I'm from the government........I'm here to help!

There now...see....it has been completely explained to you, now move along, nothing more to see here, come on now move along!

_{Just couldn't help myself}

Ya right, the US Gov is gonna help us when the syht hits the fan? NOT on your life they will.

From the same "good" people that keep repeatedly saying that Area 51 doesn't exist, amongst other things.

They really must think we're all cows or sheep, and therefore that must make us either very complacent & ignorant, as well as being dumb as a box of rocks.....

Did any one of the chicken little respondents actually read the article?

Not anything to do with "Chicken Little" Garth. I'm very surprise at your response, which amounts to a Head-in-the-Sand approach in regard to our personal Liberties granted under the Constitution of the United States. Ohhhh excuse me, I forgot that you're from the Republic of California, where laissez fare attitude towards life in general is rampant.

Apparently you have not read (nor care about) the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, which was signed by Prez Obama in early January 2012. Pay particular attention to the language of Subparts 1021 and 1022 as they relate to the overall Presidential powers directing the US Military to arrest and detain (possibly indefinitely) without legal recourse whatsoever. The language of the law re-affirms the Executive privilege to do so under "Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF)".

This law seriously erodes our Constitutional Rights.

Please check out the following Wikipedia article for yourself:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Defense_Authorization_Act_for_Fiscal_Year_2012

I'm confused

You think a drone can do something manned aircraft can't?

Okay, I think I see where you're coming from, but let us look at the capabilities of current drones vs. current USAF/ANG/USAFR aircraft shall we?

Current crop of US drones can loiter for hours over a targeted area or follow a target if need be, are small, quiet at altitude and almost non-observable from people on the ground, day or night. They can also transmit sensor and video stream data back to the controller real-time. As far as I know, the sensor packages may vary, but can include audio, video, FLIR, IR, radiographic, temperature, barometric, etc. You get the gist of where I'm coming from on this don't ya? Almost everything that can be packaged and installed on these wonder weapons/surveillance platforms can and will be utilized. I'm sure that there are other sensors utilized and developed for these machines that I am not even aware of.

Current manned military aircraft for the most part cannot loiter over a target for more than a hour or two at best, mainly due to jet fuel exhaustion. The only US fighter that I know of that has any loiter capability is the Fairchild/Republic A-10A, A-10C and OV-10A Thunderbolt II (aka the "Warthog" or "Hog"). Problem is that it is big and loud enough to be seen and heard, even at altitude. If it carries any sort of recon pod it's usually for photo/IR recon only, as far as I know, but then again I'm not an expert in this field and not privy to classified information. All I can go on is what I have read over the years and know what it's past capabilities are or were, plus what I knew about the a/c when I was in the Army. It is a superb CAS platform, especially in regards to armor killing...the airframe having been built around the GAU-8 Avenger 30mm cannon with it's armor-piercing rounds made of either Tungsten or DU. Heck I have one such round here at home made of DU that was a prized find after Desert Storm which I brought home...hell ya its slightly radioactive according to my Geiger counter! That's why it sits down in the basement inside a lead-lined steel 0.50 cal. ammo box!!! another thing is, that the DoD has decided to retire no less than 5 Fighter Wings now operating the Warthog, leaving a few precious Wings left in the USAF and ANG to carry on the Close Air Support (CAS) role.....the top brass in the Pentagon love their fast fighters and have never loved the Hog since it's inception, but to digress further on that subject is not what this thread is all about; maybe we'll leave that discussion for another day?

There are other more capable USAF aircraft such as the U-2 and it's TR-1 brethren, but cannot loiter over a target area for hours, plus they are at a very high altitude, usually above 100,000 feet AGL. I'm not absolutely sure what it's surveillance packages are currently, but most likely from past history they include photographic/IR/Radiographic/radar imaging/chemical. And as far as I know they do not transmit real time data streams back to some intelligence interpreter/analyst. Another quite important fact is that there's not too many of them around and are usually tagged to perform recon overseas almost around the clock...go to Beale AFB out in CA or

Henderson Field on Guam and you'll see what I mean. Another thing is that the U-2 platform is maintenance heavy (as compared to actual flight hours) and expensive as hell to operate, just like the infamous Lockheed SR-71 and A-11/A-12 Blackbirds that were operated by the USAF and the CIA. Most have been retired to storage, and only a small handful are operated (or were) by NASA for high-altitude atmospheric testing and data collection.

Certainly, the USAF/ANG/USAFR Special Ops units are utilizing the Lockheed C-130 Hercules platform for recon and surveillance, but then again it's big, noisy, and very noticeable from the ground even when it''s at altitude. Again, there's not too many of these specialized platforms out there to utilized for domestic surveillance. Most are tagged for foreign ops, like those a/c found at Hurlbert Field/Eglin AFB (mainly a F-15C Eagle base) in Florida. Also, they're very expensive to maintain and operate, whereas a drone is not.

I hope this info enlightens you...unless you already knew these facts.

Informative and an excellent survey

But I guess my point was following people from the air is expensive when there are so many cheaper options - so while I do have concerns about drones, it isn't being followed.

Seems like a good idea for border patrol...................lots of other good applications too, besides spying on us.

It took forever, but this case finally got settled. I would imagine that the same would apply to following suspects with a drone.

As far as randomly watching us.................well, any presumption of privacy in public spaces is already quickly going away.

Will the government abuse their authority? Sure...................if we let them.

In my opinion, whenever they tell us that they are implementing something, "to keep us safe", it needs to be scrutinized heavily before WE allow it. If it's abused, then the people should have the power to put a stop to it...................as it was intended.

Weather patterns, tornado tracking, fire control....................the list of good uses is almost endless, as long as they use them that way. The use of the word "invade" in the article and blog title has had it's intended effect.

Frankly, I would rather see this asset only used to patrol the US-Mexican and the US-Canadian borders, and along our shores for surveillance of drug smugglers, illegal immigrants, and would-be foreign terrorists, but not for surveillance of US Citizens.

The mainstream media of all types in the USA has dropped the ball, so-to-speak, covering this potential broad-base abuse of our Constitutional Rights. It's high time for them to do so, before it's way too late to reverse the trend. Lie how would you like to see the police at all levels, the FBI, CIA, NSA, DIA, TSA and Homeland Security, etc., God else Gov agencies that we have not knowledge of, using this platform to spy on you, your family, your friends, co-workers, and whoever just because they want to? What about the issue of Court-ordered surveillance, much akin to like wire-tapping requirements falling under existing laws and statutes? Has that prerequisite by the courts been circumvented with this new technology? Again, it appears that the standing laws against governmental abuse of Citizen's Rights doing a "catch-up game" after technology.

I'm afraid that we have crawled even closer to a "1984" reality with this monster of an idea and it's implementation..... the clock's minute hand is inching closer to midnight. It's frightning IMO.

For some reason I'm not feeling worried about this one. For one thing, they will be sharing airspace with commercial airliners, so I would imagine that use would have to be very limited. Secondly, they have been using aircraft to catch speeders on the highway, I think all the way back to the 70's.

What about recon for lost hikers? Monitoring animal populations and movement?

From the NPR link:

The FAA is also required under the bill to provide military, commercial and privately-owned drones with expanded access to U.S. airspace currently reserved for manned aircraft by Sept. 30, 2015.

I'm almost more worried about the privately owned drones.........................in the wrong hands, they could easily bring down a commercial jetliner.

Well, yes

But so can any private pilot even accidentally

A determined one....

That's true. I guess I realized yesterday why I'm not too worried about random government surveillance. First, I think it would be an expensive, boring, waste of time.................aside from our borders. Secondly, I live somewhat near fort Bragg. I've got massive black Army helicopters doing maneuvers around me, (or just hovering), almost daily. Strange as it sounds.................I think it's cool. I like watching them.

Anyone that's flown over the US in a commercial jet with a window seat, knows that it's a vast expanse of "nothing happening". I also have no problem with them using drones to track potential bad guys............................as long as they have cause, and obtain a warrant first.

Sounds like US Army Spec Ops helios buzzing ya Mark. Are you on their radar for some reason? LOL

Was once stationed at Bragg (Rangers)...... a lot of wild and weird stuff goes on there, and I'm not privy to discuss it.....mostly Black Ops.

Yeah, kewl to watch 'em choppers all of the time....which reminds me....2 days after Christmas we were visiting my Bro-in-Law in CT. He lives about a mile away from the Sikorski helicopter plant there where the Merritt Parkway crosses the CT River. I watched their test pilots flying newly minted US Navy UH-60 SeaHawks all day long...buzzing right over his house very low (slightly above tree top level)...VERY KEWL!!!