Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio closed for hours due to drone activity
Source: The Hill
12/16/24 12:21 PM ET
DAYTON, Ohio (WJW) – Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, was shut down for hours this weekend due to drone activity.
The shutdown occurred amid reports of clusters of drone-like objects flying low in the night sky in several states, but very little information has been released about them.
Some of the drones, or suspected drones, have also been flying over military installations, alarming residents in states including New Jersey and New York. Officials have attempted to reassure the public that military installations are able to detect and respond to drones, and security personnel are trained to identify them.
The FBI had said last week that the drones do not belong to the U.S. military and that foreign governments are not behind the objects.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/5042045-drone-shutdown-wright-patterson-air-force-base/
57 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
thank you.
some corporation? 
which begs the question they must have gotten permits to do it, right?
It makes you live forever.
.... concerning both incidents.
On Sunday, officials at Wright-Patterson confirmed its airspace was closed for four hours on Friday night and early Saturday because of small unmanned aerial systems being spotted in the vicinity.
Sounds like what happened in Boston at the airport to me.
Since I'm a boomer, just about anyone who was born after me is a "kid"
. But they weren't foreign agents either, and they certainly were not US military conducting a "secret test".
I do have to recant the notion that the drones in this incident were flying in some sort of formation. I don't know where I got that notion.
The same way a bunch of wise ass kids might show up at an airport "undetected" and start pointing laser pointers at planes or helicopters taking off/landing and then run away.
There is an altitude limit with normal radar (thus the old adage "flying 'under the radar'" ) and the little buzz-buzzes certainly would be flying under the traditional radar.
I saw something yesterday that was supposedly what is being used to detect vehicles like these -
What to know about the 'special drone-detection tech' requested for N.J. and N.Y.
Dec. 16, 2024, 1:04 PM EST
By Daniel Arkin
(snip)
In early October 2023, Robin announced it had joined a group of organizations working on the development of the world’s most advanced weather radar, known as PHARA. The group’s mission is to “develop a fully 3D weather radar that can accurately track the movement and growth process of cloud particles and large-scale weather fronts.”
“Detecting small objects is what we do, and it’s what we do best,” the company says on its website. “Bird, bat, or drone, our 360° radar systems log thousands of observations, scanning every second to track and classify with precision.”
Robin’s systems have been used in at least one notable military context, too. In early August, the Dutch Ministry of Defense announced it had purchased 51 drone radars from the company and planned to donate them to Ukraine as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s forces attempt to fend off Russia’s aerial assault.
In a news release announcing the purchase, Robin explained that “traditional radar systems are typically stationary, mounted on fixed platforms like buildings or tripods.” But the Robin-produced radar systems have “on-the-move” functionality, allowing them to “perform even when mounted on mobile objects, like vehicles or ships.” “Robin’s 3D drone detection radars … are designed with the explicit purpose of detecting small, fast and elusive drones,” the company said.
(snip)
Dec. 16, 2024, 1:04 PM EST
By Daniel Arkin
(snip)
In early October 2023, Robin announced it had joined a group of organizations working on the development of the world’s most advanced weather radar, known as PHARA. The group’s mission is to “develop a fully 3D weather radar that can accurately track the movement and growth process of cloud particles and large-scale weather fronts.”
“Detecting small objects is what we do, and it’s what we do best,” the company says on its website. “Bird, bat, or drone, our 360° radar systems log thousands of observations, scanning every second to track and classify with precision.”
Robin’s systems have been used in at least one notable military context, too. In early August, the Dutch Ministry of Defense announced it had purchased 51 drone radars from the company and planned to donate them to Ukraine as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s forces attempt to fend off Russia’s aerial assault.
In a news release announcing the purchase, Robin explained that “traditional radar systems are typically stationary, mounted on fixed platforms like buildings or tripods.” But the Robin-produced radar systems have “on-the-move” functionality, allowing them to “perform even when mounted on mobile objects, like vehicles or ships.” “Robin’s 3D drone detection radars … are designed with the explicit purpose of detecting small, fast and elusive drones,” the company said.
(snip)
Supposedly the above devices were given to NY & NJ.
It's breathtakingly ridiculous how some are just blowing this off as a "joke", completely oblivious to the fact that you have many many "local bad actors" out there who think it is funny to fly their remote craft up to someone's house to peep in a window with the camera that is onboard.
It's the same type as those assholes who carry out "street takeovers" and "do donuts and burnouts" in the middle of urban intersections and disrupt traffic.
Judging by all the assholes shining laser pointers at aircraft in the world, I imagine there would be assholes who find joy in interfering with manned aircraft.
That has been my main take here. But what has magnified this that I discovered (and posted about) a couple days ago was this - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143357038
Mayorkas cited the 2023 change of a Federal Aviation Administration rule that allows drones to fly at night as to why there might be an uptick in sightings.
I had no idea. Literally last year, these remote craft were NOW permitted to "fly at night". So now you have the buzz-buzzes out and about 24/7 and of course at night, when they have lights on, they are visible.
Once people started reporting them, that obviously encouraged people who never normally cared, to go outside and "look". And if they are not familiar with the sky in their areas, then they WILL misidentify flight paths of planes, etc.
I live near 3 airports and am under the flight paths of all 3 and am used to seeing that fascinating drumbeat of perfectly timed (and spaced) planes coming/going to all 3. But most people might not be.
I have been a weather hobbyist for almost 55 years and interact with some guys on my weather forum, plus watch storm chasers, who have quadcopters that they use to survey the weather, and in the latter case, to get video of storm damage. The videos and stills have generally been during the daytime but recently, I started seeing some "night shots".
Hell... DU's own BoZarts (formerly DemoTex) got a quadcopter for his firetower/lookout and has periodically posted pics from it.
So why is the US government, including the Air Force, having such a hard time tracking down the drones and their "pilots"?
I don't think the tech needs an upgrade as much as much as the authorities need to level with We the People. They are whistling in the dark if they don't think these things are a potential hazard to navigation and national security.
My guess is that it's not a simple question of finding a few bad actors. Some of these reports indicate they are part of a phenomenon that has interacted with humanity for time immemorial.
I don't think the tech needs an upgrade as much as much as the authorities need to level with We the People. They are whistling in the dark if they don't think these things are a potential hazard to navigation and national security.
My guess is that it's not a simple question of finding a few bad actors. Some of these reports indicate they are part of a phenomenon that has interacted with humanity for time immemorial.
Remember that the law authorizing these things didn't get passd until 2012, so they are STILL "relatively new".
You also have a situation that each government agency has its "wheelhouse". Everything has been directed at the "security" (DHS) and "military" (DOD) people for some reason, completely ignoring the FAA. The FAA regulates those things and IMHO, Pete should be out there or they should at least create a little "taskforce" and partner with the overarching agencies to put out a single "message" to cover various aspects.
The average person in a suburban neighborhood doesn't necessarily care about some "drone" (in quotes) dropping a bomb on their house but might be concerned about a "peeping Tom" thing buzzing over their backyard.
I.e., are they "casing the place" for a future robbery? THAT is a real concern.
I always laughed about the old-fashioned 1950s/60s "model airplanes" that (rich surburban) kids had which had all kinds of sophisticated controls, but they didn't have GoPros on them.
Now you have the "modern" versions (I noticed in the below video that some of the shots in the sequences had little "chaser" quadcopters recording video of the RC planes landing, including a few wipeouts trying to keep up
) -
And add to that the various small 'copters that can hover - the "hover" capability being the bigger issue when it comes to dealing with these RC craft.
People act like these things don't exist and then start talking about people having "mass hysteria about UFOs" and other stuff and if they do accept they are out there, assume "everyone" who has one is "on the up and up", with no nefarious intent.