Opinion: Where were the Drones?
- Thread starter The Droning Company
- Start date
Drones can act as a deterrent especially when people believe they are being watched or followed or seen or uncovered when they are about to do bad things. If you cannot post a person on a rooftop, a drone above it with flashing lights might help. Now would be a good time to think about "pre-crime" and prevention and stopping things before they happen; particularly when you are working in a controlled environment and such a high-profile venue. Such an event is where I would support face recognition software, following targets and suspects with drones, and other warrantless "intrusions" that the authorities so want to implement on the public streets and highways. Now's your chance!
Was there a drone flight restriction in the area of the venue, when the assassination attempt occurred? Seems like there would have been. But just wondering if that was in fact the case?
There's an adjacent airport, though one of minor importance.
Security "sees" what it "sees" In other words: If they implemented Drones for such a task a human would still need to witness and act to the the info, and send an agent or team. The secret service can't be everywhere and even a drone operator has constant blind spots. Why not a manned Balloon centered 100 ft above the crowd?
I think the Drone idea is a great one, and it is my personal belief that the only reason they haven't done it is that the security measures they already have in place for drones would become useless. I don't think they can prevent other drones from entering the same airspace while their drones are operating.
Government Drone countermeasures are not like guns that can be "aimed". To down drones reliably (at the moment) "Bursts" of microwaves are sent in a given direction or area.
These "Bursts" Would of course Down any drone in a given area or path.
I think the Drone idea is a great one, and it is my personal belief that the only reason they haven't done it is that the security measures they already have in place for drones would become useless. I don't think they can prevent other drones from entering the same airspace while their drones are operating.
Government Drone countermeasures are not like guns that can be "aimed". To down drones reliably (at the moment) "Bursts" of microwaves are sent in a given direction or area.
These "Bursts" Would of course Down any drone in a given area or path.
Our Gov will blow a $100,000 missile to take out a $3000 drone launched by Houthis. I'm not buying the cost prohibitive, ROI.
^The difference is drones are smart. They are fast, they can go high and low, in between, around and behind, they can spot patterns, they can run software. Drone has cameras that can transmit video and images and actually alert on things like a gun or a gun case. If the government doesn't know how to make a drone 100 times smarter and faster and more nimble than a bunch of humans then it's proving my point. Honestly, I think it can be done.
With AI, the drone can predict where a shooter might be, the drone can track late arrivals, the drone can spot people leaving early, the drone can tell you if the guy on the roof is a friend or foe. Drone can call detect sudden movement in the day or at night and the drone can deploy countermeasures including blocking the line of sight, distracting...you name it. If an officer is climbing up the roof and he falls, everyone should know it.
Please tell me the smart people in this country are working on this instead of just using expensive drones waiting to follow me around town looking for me to make a traffic violation so the police can find a good reason to stop me (which nobody wants). If not, we can start *now* and we will have all this in 5 years, it's not too late to get on this otherwise, no wonder no one wants a $5k drone that records 4k video, take a few photos, and then flies home after 30 minutes....what a waste, an expensive drone that does *nothing*. Do something with these drones or else step aside and let someone else do it.
It's ridiculous to think if the enemy drone can't fly, nobody flies; all are denied. That's like saying if the cellphone lines go down, all of our comms go down and nobody gets to use the phone. If the lights go out, none of us can see. Look, and I'm being honest here, if the smart people can't figure this out, *call me* I'll get it done.
Me = a lot of us, not just me
With AI, the drone can predict where a shooter might be, the drone can track late arrivals, the drone can spot people leaving early, the drone can tell you if the guy on the roof is a friend or foe. Drone can call detect sudden movement in the day or at night and the drone can deploy countermeasures including blocking the line of sight, distracting...you name it. If an officer is climbing up the roof and he falls, everyone should know it.
Please tell me the smart people in this country are working on this instead of just using expensive drones waiting to follow me around town looking for me to make a traffic violation so the police can find a good reason to stop me (which nobody wants). If not, we can start *now* and we will have all this in 5 years, it's not too late to get on this otherwise, no wonder no one wants a $5k drone that records 4k video, take a few photos, and then flies home after 30 minutes....what a waste, an expensive drone that does *nothing*. Do something with these drones or else step aside and let someone else do it.
It's ridiculous to think if the enemy drone can't fly, nobody flies; all are denied. That's like saying if the cellphone lines go down, all of our comms go down and nobody gets to use the phone. If the lights go out, none of us can see. Look, and I'm being honest here, if the smart people can't figure this out, *call me* I'll get it done.
Me = a lot of us, not just me
I see your point BUT you are Cramming a LOT of future tech into your secret service aerial agent. Sure maybe five or so years. Today in these days of low tech lol, its not so Black and white.
We do not posses the technology to let a Drone decipher weather that guy on the roof down the street is washing solar panels OR trying to shoot the President. and thank goodness for that.
That's all I need - some flying box built by Boeing deciding weather I live or Die.
We do not posses the technology to let a Drone decipher weather that guy on the roof down the street is washing solar panels OR trying to shoot the President. and thank goodness for that.
That's all I need - some flying box built by Boeing deciding weather I live or Die.
That's peanuts compared to what anti-drone tech cost of course the Goverment waste money!! You wanna save the Government Millions right now:
Here's a small idea and I'm just bouncing ideas around in my head BUT-- Hold your rally indoors!!! away from people with sniper rifles! Just an idea. There, You just turned 6 C-5 galaxies and countless 18 wheelers into an a couple of vanloads of agents. One little rule and Your saving a bundle!
That's one point of view. Here's another: Our government will launch a $100,000 missile to take out a $3000 Houthi drone that's aimed at and capable of sinking a multi-billion-dollar ship.
Sounds like blowing a load on an investment, and securing a future is worth the money. One can only then ask "why wasn't it spent"..?
Drones are being used in Ukraine to take out soldiers so it would not be a massive stretch of the imagination to think that the same could not be true of taking out a presidential candidate. Probably easier to ban drone flight in the area than to take the risk of mistaking a hostile drone for a "friendly" one.
I am not just thinking about quadcopter type drones either, but the more sophisticated missile types that can be launched from some distance away and these days not beyond the means of an average terrorist organisation.
I am not just thinking about quadcopter type drones either, but the more sophisticated missile types that can be launched from some distance away and these days not beyond the means of an average terrorist organisation.
My guess is they are more worried about the Chinese having access to the drone than they are about domestic terrorisms. Clearly misplaced in this case.
360 Guy
Well-Known Member
Should have had a chopper circling the complete area, all the time.
SS probably has 100 top notch drones. I know first hand that Homeland Security has them. This level of incompetence is typical of the current officeholders. Afghanistan withdrawal was just the start.
Where were the drones? Very good question. There are many ways they could have been used to help prevent this, but the drone haters would argue that there are many ways drones could make for a higher risk factor.
Droning on and on...
Well-Known Member
I suspect having any drones in the air creates too much risk of delay in taking defensive measures for the protectee, as time will elapse determining friend or foe.
If nothing's supposed to be flying around, then as soon as something's spotted anywhere they can take immediate protective action well before it gets there.
Drones would have helped see this guy on that rooftop, but are completely unnecessary. This wasn't a complex urban downtown... a better question than "where were the drones" is why no LE was on that roof.
EDIT: ...with so few buildings.
If nothing's supposed to be flying around, then as soon as something's spotted anywhere they can take immediate protective action well before it gets there.
Drones would have helped see this guy on that rooftop, but are completely unnecessary. This wasn't a complex urban downtown... a better question than "where were the drones" is why no LE was on that roof.
EDIT: ...with so few buildings.
Last edited:
Chip
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2017
- Messages
- 1,752
- Reactions
- 2,365
I have a different set of suggestions. Train all security personnel that if they see someone walking around with a ladder and a rifle to stop and ask them what they are doing. Train and then place a counter sniper team on high ground and ask them to keep their eyes open and look for people on rooftops especially those situated less than 200 yards away with direct line of sight to the target. Flying drones over political rallies and using facial recognition to capture and log every person in attendance is way over the top and violates freedom of assembly.
AnzacJack
Australian Defence Veteran
the AI tech for drones is getting pretty good.
We have shark watch software (still being fine tuned, but working pretty well) that can spot a shark and differentiate this from schools of fish, dolphins, humans and debris. With a single pass over a shark can be detected and reported instantly for further response.
I do not think it would be beyond a surveillance drone to spot and report someone on a roof or someone with suspicious equipment. Could be monitored by a team in communication with all of the rooftop assets pretty quickly.
I think an issue that would be a problem would be, as suggested by someone already, would be equipment denying the airspace to non-official drones would also effect official drones.
Similar threads
