Prison authorities are fighting off an aerial invasion by drones being used to smuggle drugs and other contraband into Victorian jails while the system has been in lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic. The airdrops, containing packages of pharmaceutical-grade narcotics and street drugs such as heroin, have kept the jailhouse drug market alive after a ban…
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Category: News
Firefighter Drones – How Drones are Being Used for Helping Fire Departments
While drones continue to get much smaller, more powerful, and have better payload options, one thing that will stay the same is its ability to quickly reach a vantage point where humans cannot easily get access to. This remote controlled or even autonomous flying platforms can be used to make people’s jobs easier and more…
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Chinese volunteers use flamethrower drone to eradicate wasp nests in village near Chongqing
A drone has been converted into a flying flamethrower in central China in a fiery campaign to eradicate more than 100 wasp nests. Blue Sky Rescue, a volunteer group that conducts search and rescue and other emergency work, has teamed up with villagers in Zhong county near the city of Chongqing. They raised 80,000 yuan…
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Coronavirus: Funding for drone firms helping to deliver COVID-19 tests and supplies
As social distancing continues, drones can offer a safe and environmentally friendly solution for delivering medical supplies. Drone companies developing methods to deliver COVID-19 tests and personal protective equipment (PPE) to hospitals and rural communities are to receive a share of government funding. Twenty projects in the UK will benefit from the £7m package which…
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The future of drones: the good, bad and ugly
It’s no longer pie in the sky – drones have entered the mainstream. Recreationally and commercially, the uses of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) have rapidly expanded. But while there have been welcome advances in agriculture, aerial photography, product deliveries, even racing, it’s hard to ignore the less glamorous applications. Invasive applications of…
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Scaling new safety heights with fixed-wing drone technology
Ames Construction, one of the largest family-owned general contractors in the US, has significantly improved the safety and accuracy of its surveying at a copper mining site in Arizona using technology from senseFly, a leader in fixed-wing drones. By using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Ames Construction can now generate detailed 3D imagery of the pit…
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More drones in the sky in one day than planes in a year – Amazonian number-crunching
Amazon Prime Air has been granted permission by the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to fly beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). This finally makes drone deliveries possible. It joins UPS, FedEx, and others in live-testing the concept, and will trial the craft in areas of low population density. By granting permission, the…
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Mysterious Drone Incursions Have Occurred Over U.S. THAAD Anti-Ballistic Missile Battery In Guam
Earlier this year, it came to The War Zone‘s attention that a series of bizarre and highly concerning events took place in the late Winter of 2019 at Andersen Air Force Base on the Island of Guam. As we understand it, between late February and early March of last year, the massive installation experienced repeated incursions by unmanned…
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The US government grounded DJI — but here are the five drones it just approved
DJI may be synonymous with “drone,” but after the US Armed Forces, the Pentagon, and the Department of the Interior started banning and grounding Chinese models over spying fears, it created a vacuum in the market for a drone the United States government could trust. But the US Department of Defense may already be filling…
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Help find rogue western Sydney drone
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is asking the public for help finding a large drone reported flying close to an aircraft over western Sydney. The one metre by one metre size drone was spotted mid-flight by pilots during an approach to land at Sydney airport. Reported 6 August 2020 on Casa.gov.au: Read the entire incident…
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