Unmanned spy planes are being launched from locations in 20 states and owners include

[Cebu_4_2]

Is there a drone in your neighbourhood? Rise of spy planes exposed after FAA is forced to reveal 63 launch sites across U.S.


There are at least 63 active drone sites around the U.S, federal authorities have been forced to reveal following a landmark Freedom of Information lawsuit.
The unmanned planes – some of which may have been designed to kill terror suspects – are being launched from locations in 20 states.
Most of the active drones are deployed from military installations, enforcement agencies and border patrol teams, according to the Federal Aviation Authority.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/24/article-0-12BD6D73000005DC-24_964x651.jpg Exposed: Location of sites where licences have been granted for the use of drones within the U.S. There are 63 active sites based in 20 states. Red flags show active sites and blue show those locations where licences have expired since 2006

But, astonishingly, 19 universities and colleges are also registered as owners of what are officially known as unmanned aerial vehicles.
It is thought that many of institutions, which include Cornell, the University of Colorado, Georgia Tech, and Eastern Gateway Community College, are developing drone technology.


More...



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Strong border controls and a lack of jobs prompt mass emigration of illegal Mexicans from the U.S. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2134248/Strong-border-controls-threats-cartels-lack-jobs-prompting-Mexican-immigrants-leave-U-S.html)


There are also 21 mainstream manufactures, such as General Atomics, who are registered to use drones domestically.
As well as active locations, the FAA also revealed 16 sites where licences to use spy planes have expired and four where authorisations have been disapproved, such as Otter Tail County, Minnesota.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/24/article-0-12BD6D7D000005DC-411_964x621.jpg Unusual: The University of Connecticut - one of 19 educational institutions to own spy planes - is the drone site closest to New York City. The North East is the region with the highest concentration



http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/24/article-0-12BD6D85000005DC-311_964x687.jpg Concentration: The Beltway around Washington DC has the highest concentration of urban and suburban drone sites, including the U.S. Marine Corp base as Quantico Station, Virginia

The authority revealed the information after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by Electronic Frontier Foundation (https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/04/faa-releases-its-list-drone-certificates-leaves-many-questions-unanswered).
Its website hosts an interactive map that allows the user to zoom in to the area around where they live to see if any sites are nearby.
However, the FAA is yet to reveal what kinds of drones might be based at any of these locations.
The agency says it will release this data later.
Most of the drones are likely to be small craft, such as the Draganflyer X8, which can carry a payload of only 2.2lb.
Police, border patrols and environmental agencies, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), could use for them effectively.
While few would object to vast open areas being monitored for wildfires, there are fears of privacy violations if drones are used to spy over cities.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/24/article-0-12BD6D95000005DC-489_964x789.jpg Florida: Mostly police and Sheriff departments are registered to use drones in the state


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/24/article-0-12BD6DA5000005DC-94_964x778.jpg Watch out Canada! Border agents are registered to use drone in North Dakota, just a few hundred miles from Winnipeg, Manitoba


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/24/article-0-12BD6DAB000005DC-259_964x632.jpg Remote: The University of Alaska's drones are the most distant from any major urban centres. They are, however, the closest to Russia


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/24/article-2134376-12BD6D9D000005DC-99_964x689.jpg Hotspot: Texas has one of the highest number of drone sites


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/24/article-2134376-12BD6D8E000005DC-725_964x667.jpg West Coast: There are comparatively few drone sites in California and Western states

Other drones – likely to be operated only by the armed forces – might include the MQ-9 Reaper and the MQ-1 Predator, which was used to kill American Al Qaeda boss Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen last September.
The FAA released two lists of public and private entities that have applied for authorisations to fly drones domestically.
Certificates of Authorizations (COAs), issued to public entities like police departments, are active in 42 locations, expired in 16 and disapproved in four.
Special Airworthiness Certificates (SACs), issued to private drone manufacturers, are active in 21 locations and not active in 17.
Among the other unanswered questions, however, are is exactly how many drones each registered user owns.


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/24/article-2134376-12BD7D62000005DC-511_964x480.jpg Killer: Some of the drones owned by the military might be the MQ-9 Reaper, which has been used to target terrorists overseas



http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/04/24/article-2134376-12BD79B7000005DC-236_964x520.jpg Watching you: Most of the drones are likely to be small craft, such as the Draganflyer X8, which can carry a payload of only 2.2lb. Police, border patrols and environmental agencies, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), could use for them effectively

The FAA has confirmed that there were about 300 active COAs and that the agency has issued about 700-750 authorizations since the program began in 2006.
But this information does not reveal how many are owned, for example, by Miami Dade Police Department.
While the use of drones in the U.S. is little known, American operations overseas have been well documented.
As well as high-profile terrorists, campaigners claim hundreds of innocent civilians have been killed in the border regions of Pakistan, where they are most active.

[Heimdhal]

Seems to be a high concentration in the south.

[milehi]

I saw one landing at The Southern California Logisics Airport last Thursday afternoon while traveling up Hwy 395.

[Korbin Dallas]

Notice how we became aware of this thanks to a British newspaper? The US propaganda is so blatant, they won't even mention it. Big Brother is here.

[osoab]

So where are the bases of the ones they don't want us to know about?

[lapis]

http://www.sevenselves.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/bump2.gif

For anyone who missed this last month. I just saw this today.

Surprisingly, there are few of these drone sites in the Western states and California.

[mick silver]

we saw one here a few day ago . it was flying low and you could see the the thing as clear as day . my mom was the one who seen it and said what the hell is that . it my first time seeing one that close . my place is about 40 miles from a big base here

[Serpo]

Theres going to be more drones flying around America than you can poke a stick at.

What this means......................who they really fear the most........their own people..............

[collector]

These drones don't seem to display any identification. It would seem that if Al Queda is using them, it would be prudent to shoot them down. Who knows, these things could be the tools of terrorists to spread biological or chemical weaponry - and if it saves one life by taking them down...
I don't know if there's any laws regarding the destruction of dangerous model aircraft - seems like a gray area at this time with no real debate on the issue as to whether this stuff has protection under the law

[osoab]

Virginia Gov: Warrantless Drones “Great” for America (http://www.infowars.com/virginia-gov-warrantless-drones-great-for-america/)




He added a worthless caveat routinely issued when government prepares to violate the Fourth Amendment. “McDonnell added Tuesday it will prove important to ensure the state maintains Americans’ civil liberties, such as privacy, if it adds drones to its law enforcement arsenal,” reports WTOP (http://www.wtop.com/120/2882193/Governor-Drones-over-Va-great-right-thing-to-do).

[DMac]

I'm not going to go searching for the original source I read this on, but, I certainly remember the stats.

In 2010 or 2011 the NFL paid lobbyists 1.8 Million to petition the FED.GOV for certain things, the primary, was drone flights over stadiums.

Thanks NFL.

[osoab]

This doesn't look too promising.


US Announces Plans To Arm Domestic Surveillance Drones With Missiles (http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/05/30/announces-plans-to-arm-domestic-surveillance-drones-missiles-139411/)



The US announces plans to arm drones that will be operating inside the US with missiles and bombs as part of a 30,000 strong domestic deployment.

Fully armed remotely controlled aircraft used by the United States military and its allies in the War on Terror overseas are set to begin a new era of operating over domestic soil.

The US military has revealed that stronger and more powerful versions of the famed Predator drones, known as MQ-9 Reaper drones, are being fitted with missiles and other explosive ordinances as part of a deployment of 30,000 drones authorized to fly over the US by the NDAA (http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/02/06/ndaa-trojan-unleashed-massive-military-drone-deployment-airspace-81311/) and the armed drones will now be operating inside the United States.

A military spokesman at the Hancock Field Air National Guard base in NY said the drones will only be armed with missiles and explosive ordinances when they are operating in airspace over US military bases and are only being armed as part of a program to train others to operate America’s new drone fleet.

Legislation passed by congress authorized the integration of military and public airspace into a single national aerospace grid to support both civil and public drone flights over U.S. skies.

The news comes as law enforcement agencies announce plans to weaponize their drones (http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/05/24/police-announce-plans-weaponize-drones-flying-skies-137801/) with “less than lethal” weapons such as tasers, tear gas and rubber bullets.

Overseas, the UK has already equipped their once unarmed surveillance drones to carry missiles.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the U.S. congress is expected to pass legislation that will arm Italy’s fleet of Reaper drone aircraft with missiles in a deal that is likely to pave the way for the roll-out of armed drones across the spectrum of NATO allies.

The news comes as the Obama administration comes under fire for his use of drones in the secret U.S. assassination program.

Recently Obama appointed John Brennan as the first ever Assassination Czar (http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/05/23/media-blackout-obama-appoints-assassination-czar-137181/) delegating him as the sole authority to designate people for assassination under the United States top-secret assassination program.

The appointment led a public backlash which forced the Obama administration to reveal unprecedented details to the New York Times about the use of the drones in the assassination program.

The article revealed a series of hair-raising spine-tingling facts including revelations that Obama personally ordered attacks he knew were going to kill woman and children along with the admission that we are conducting a new type of attack called “signature strikes” which involves bombing entire groups of civilians not even knowing who they are (http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/05/30/obama-admits-ordering-assassinations-of-innocent-civilians-139421/).

At the same time it was revealed in accounting for civilian casualties overseas, the Obama administration has categorically counted everyone killed by the program as an ‘enemy combatant’ while even not even knowing their identities with the exception being when US intelligence was able to obtain absolute proof the assassinated person was not a combatant.

In the video Colonel Kevin Bradley, commander of the 174th Air National Guard Fighter Wing, discusses the new special mission assigned to him by the government to transition the MQ-9 reaper drones from overseas deployments in Afghanistan to deployments over US Skies.



rest at link

[Serpo]

These should make everyone sleep better at night ,unless of course one blasts you to bits in your sleep without you even knowing.

[Cebu_4_2]

Yeah no kidding!


A military spokesman at the Hancock Field Air National Guard base in NY said the drones will only be armed with missiles and explosive ordinances when they are operating in airspace over US military bases and are only being armed as part of a program to train others to operate America’s new drone fleet.

[DMac]

http://cdn1.alexanderhiggins.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Obama-Yes-We-Can-Murder-Whoever-Whenever-Wherever.png

[DMac]

So wait, murdered civilians are automatically considered terrorists unless explicit intelligence posthumously proves them innocent, but if you dare claim someone murdered by the program is an innocent civilian you are spreading false ‘militant propaganda’ which is by definition providing support for terrorism (http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2011/09/02/feds-charge-man-enemy-combatant-supporting-terrorism-uploading-youtube-videos-67721) which can get you put on that list. I guess ‘explicit intelligence’ implies the US needs to serve up that intelligence, which clearly isn’t happening.


also


The C.I.A. worried that Mr. Mehsud, whose group then mainly targeted the Pakistan government, did not meet the Obama administration’s criteria for targeted killing: he was not an imminent threat to the United States. But Pakistani officials wanted him dead...

Crazy.

[osoab]

EPA Using Drones to Spy on Cattle Ranchers in Nebraska and Iowa (http://www.infowars.com/epa-using-drones-to-spy-on-cattle-ranchers-in-nebraska-and-iowa/)



Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
June 4, 2012

Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency is using aerial drones to spy on farmers in Nebraska and Iowa. The surveillance came under scrutiny last week when Nebraska’s congressional delegation sent a joint letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.

On Friday, EPA officialdom in “Region 7” responded to the letter.

“Courts, including the Supreme Court, have found similar types of flights to be legal (for example to take aerial photographs of a chemical manufacturing facility) and EPA would use such flights in appropriate instances to protect people and the environment from violations of the Clean Water Act,” the agency said in response to the letter.
“They are just way on the outer limits of any authority they’ve been granted,” said Mike Johanns (http://www.omaha.com/article/20120604/NEWS01/706049932), a Republican senator from Nebraska.

In fact, the EPA has absolutely zero authority and is an unconstitutional entity of an ever-expanding and rogue federal government. Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution (http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_A1Sec8.html) does not authorize Congress to legislate in the area of the environment. Under the Tenth Amendment, this authority is granted to the states and their legislatures, not the federal government.

The EPA has not addressed the constitutional question, including its wanton violation of probable cause under the Fourth Amendment. It merely states that it has authority to surveil the private property of farmers and ranchers. It defends (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/30/hill-lawmakers-from-nebraska-question-epa-aerial-livestock-surveillance/) its encroaching behavior as “cost-efficient.”


Must be looking for cows with wmd's. Damned cows are sneaky.

[old steel]

No sights in Montana or Wyoming.

They know their limitations.

[jimswift]

These things have FF written all over them.

[osoab]

Texas college hacks drone in front of DHS (http://rt.com/usa/news/texas-1000-us-government-906/)



There are a lot of cool things you can do with $1,000, but scientists at an Austin, Texas college have come across one that is often overlooked: for less than a grand, how’d you like to hijack a drone?

A group of researchers led by Professor Todd Humphreys from the University of Texas at Austin Radionavigation Laboratory recently succeeded in raising the eyebrows of the US government. With just around $1,000 in parts, Humphreys’ team took control of an unmanned aerial vehicle owned by the college, all in front of the US Department of Homeland Security.

After being challenged by his lab, the DHS dared Humphreys’ crew to hack into a drone and take command. Much to their chagrin, they did exactly that.

Humphrey tells Fox News that for a few hundreds dollar his team was able to “spoof” the GPS system on board the drone, a technique that involves mimicking the actual signals sent to the global positioning device and then eventually tricking the target into following a new set of commands. And, for just $1,000, Humphreys says the spoofer his team assembled was the most advanced one ever built.

“Spoofing a GPS receiver on a UAV is just another way of hijacking a plane,” Humphreys tells Fox. The real danger here, however, is that the government is currently considering plans that will allow local law enforcement agencies and other organizations from coast-to-coast to control drones of their own in America’s airspace.

“In five or ten years you have 30,000 drones in the airspace,” he tells Fox News. “Each one of these could be a potential missile used against us.”

Domestic drones are already being used by the DHS and other governmental agencies, and several small-time law enforcement groups have accumulated UAVs of their own as they await clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration. Indeed, by 2020 there expects to be tens of thousands of drones diving and dipping through US airspace. With that futuristic reality only a few years away, Humphreys’ experiment suggests that the FAA may have their work cut out for them if they think it’s as easy as just approving domestic use anytime soon. After all, reports Newser, domestic drones are likely to use the same unencrypted GPS signals provided to civilians, allowing seemingly anyone with $1,000 and the right research to hack into the system and harness a UAV for their own personal use.

“What if you could take down one of these drones delivering FedEx packages and use that as your missile?” Humphreys asks. “That’s the same mentality the 9-11 attackers had,”

*Correction: this story has been modified to clarify that the drone used in the U of T experiment was not a government drone, but a UAV owned by the university.



Love the addition of scary muzzies into the story.

[old steel]

What height do these things fly at inquiring minds want to know. ;)

[Xizang]

As a pilot, I am concerned about the safety issue with thousands of unmanned aircraft up there, with the commercial airliners, parcel delivery aircraft, general aviation private aircraft, medical helicopters, military aircraft, crop dusters, etc. It's always been a full-time job while flying enroute to watch for and avoid other aircraft. And that's where both aircraft have flight crews on board looking to avoid midair collisions.

After the first few fully loaded airliners collide with these unmanned drones, killing hundreds on board and on the ground, someone's going to have to make up some really good excuses.

[mick silver]

do you really think they will tell us if there was a drone that cause the wreck ... come on now

[Xizang]

do you really think they will tell us if there was a drone that cause the wreck ... come on now

They'll probably find a way of blaming George Bush

[osoab]

They'll probably find a way of blaming George Bush

http://cur.cursors-4u.net/smilies/images1/smi20.gif