Drone drops a Bomb on an Israeli Merkava Tank

الميادين تحصل على شريط يكشف استخدام سرايا القدس طائرات الدرون

Here is a fascinating video by a rebel group called “Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO)” of one of their Drones dropping a small Bomb on a Merkava Tank of the Israeli Army in Gaza.

The Merkava’s Crew seemed completely unaware of the Drone as it approached and hovered over the tank from what seems like a relatively low altitude, probably no more than a couple of hundred feet.

Then the Drone dropped the bomb, but despite the fact that it was hovering or staying in place and that the altitude wasn’t that high, the bomb narrowly missed the top areas of the Tank, exploding just beside the tank’s tracks.

If the rebels develop a more accurate way of bombing using these drones, then it could do some damage to Israeli Forces.

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Commercial Drones now getting more practical with better Obstacle Avoidance

Commercial Drones are becoming better at Obstacle Avoidance, as shown in this Video. This makes them more Autonomous and thus easier and more practical to use, you can basically fly them anywhere now and not worry too much about losing them anymore.

This one works very well in the Forest, and thus would serve a good Military or Law Enforcement purpose if used with Troops or Vehicles as an Aerial Observation System against Bandits, Criminals, Terrorists, etc.

Flight Time is only 23 minutes, though, so that is one aspect that needs to improve. I think this works best with Vehicles especially if you can recharge them there so you don’t have to worry about eventually running out of Battery Power.

The Drone is new, released only last month (November 2019) and is called the Skydio 2. At Usd 1,000 each it is a bit pricey for individuals, but not for Businesses and Governments considering the capability it provides.

One wheeling foggy Forest Trails with Skydio 2 - Incredible Obstacle Avoidance

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DroneGun Tactical used by Philippine Security Forces during the SEAG

DroneGun Tactical (January 2019)

The Anti-Drone weapon used by Philippine Security Forces during the recently concluded South East Asian Games (SEAG) to secure the Venues from Drones is the DroneGun Tactical made by the company DroneShield.

It weighs 7.3 kg and has a range of around 1-2 km as per the company information although the video says it can neutralize Drones up to 2.5 km away. The way it disables the Drones as per the video is it causes it to lose connection to its Controller and then just land on its own where it was “shot”.

You can access the company information about the weapon here: DroneGun Tactical 

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Saudi Arabia’s expensive Air Defense Systems unable to stop Houthi/Iranian Drones/Cruise Missiles

If this attack happened to the Philippines, people would just say, “Pfft, if they had MIM-104 Patriot Surface to Air Missiles (SAM), this wouldn’t have happened”. But Saudi Arabia does have the very expensive Patriot SAMs, in fact they are one of the most well-funded and well-equipped armed forces in the world, thanks to their wealth derived from Oil.

And yet despite that the Houthi/Iranian Drones/Cruise Missiles still got thru their Air Defense Systems. Would the Russian S-400 done any better? Maybe, but we won’t know for sure until they are tested in battle also as much as the Patriot SAMs.

Drone strikes on Saudi Aramco Facilities

The ongoing war in the Middle East is allowing the use of “High Tech” weapons in actual combat, and recently the Houthi Rebels were able to successfully attack Saudi Arabia’s Oil Processing Facilities using Drones and disabling nearly half of Saudi Arabia’s Oil output. The Houthis claim that they used a total of 10 drones for the attack.

I initially thought these Drones were like aircraft armed with missiles similar to the U.S.’ Predator Drones, but upon reading the descriptions of them from other articles, it turns out that they are actually more like Cruise Missiles, meaning they are programmed to travel to a target like an aircraft and then attack it like a Kamikaze aircraft.

Cruise Missiles have been around for a long time, but the difference now is they can be made easily, cheaply and produced in larger numbers. One of the Houthis’ Drones/Cruise Missiles for example, the UAV-X, reportedly has a range of 1,500 km and its guidance system seems to be via Global Positioning System (GPS).

The Saudis do have the MIM-104 Patriot Surface to Air Missiles (SAM), but reports are that the Houthis are attacking their radars also, rendering the system blind when they are damaged or destroyed. So truly we are now in the Age of Drones.

REFERENCES:
* Major Saudi Arabia Oil Facilities hit by Houthi Drone strikes
* Bomb-Laden Drones of Yemen Rebels threaten Arabian Peninsula

USMC issuing Quadcopter Drones at Squad Level

The United States Marine Corps (USMC) will soon be employing Quadcopter Drones at Squad level, it’s called the “InstantEye” and has a 15-30 minute flight time depending on payload.

Also note one tactic the troops have come up with, and that is to fly and land the drone at a ledge, then turn off the Propellers to save battery while keeping the video feed open. So now they have an instant video camera observing the field perched at a high elevation.

SOURCE: 15-Marine Rifle Squad: An exclusive look inside the future Infantry