Tag: Drone

  • Drone Attacks in Iran and What they Mean

    Drone Attacks in Iran and What they Mean

    This past weekend there were multiple drone attacks on Iranian military targets. There have been no claims as to who carried out the attacks. We do know, however, that the drones were launched from within Iran.

    https://twitter.com/Danale/status/1619688002237927426?

    The Ayatollahs have claimed none of the strikes were successful, and even if they were the damage was minimal, except where the damage was substantial, but no military targets were hit and the fact that we’re convening an emergency session of the Supreme National Security council is mere coincidence.

    Advisor to Volodymyr Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted about the not-so-good night the Iranians had yesterday.

    https://twitter.com/Podolyak_M/status/1619647615016251392?s=20

    Needless to say, the goat shagging Ayatollahs did not take it well. They summoned the Ukraine Ambassador. The supreme security council issued a statement saying Podolyak’s tweet would “cost Ukraine dearly.”

    Seeing as Iran has already sent 1000 suicide drones to Russia, I don’t see what else they can do. I mean, the plant where those drones are made was just blown up.

    Now on to who dunnit. Let’s be honest, there are only two countries that it could have been. The US and Israel. I suppose there is an outside chance it was Ukraine, but I just don’t see that as likely.Considering the State Department’s slavish devotion to the Iran nuclear deal, that kinda rules out US involvement.

    That leaves us with Israel.

    Israel, as they always do, make no claims or denials for this attack. There is a long history of Israeli covert ops in Iran, very few of which are acknowledged. In fact, the only one I can think of was the theft of half a ton of Iranian nuclear documents back in 2018. Bibi went on TV and showed a lot of the docs.

    The timing of this makes me think there are several reasons behind it. I think the new Israeli government is flexing a bit. The previous coalition government was seen as being a bit weak when it came to Iran’s involvement with the palestinian terror groups. This strike, especially because it was launched from inside Iran, is meant to send a message to the Ayatollahs. It doesn’t hurt that the regions where the strikes occurred are not particularly friendly to the regime in Tehran. I know it doesn’t get the coverage it did, but there are still large protests happening around the country.

    The choice of targets was also a bit interesting. The fact that the facility that produces the Shaheed suicide drone was hit isn’t important by itself, Israel has struck that type of facility before. However, the drones produced there are going to Russia for use in Ukraine. Up till now, Israel has been very reticent about supporting Ukraine. I think that has just changed, at least quietly.

  • Another One Bites The Dust

    Another One Bites The Dust

    It’s beginning to look like the last quarter of 2020 is not a good time to be a senior member of the Islamo-facist regime in Tehran.

    Muslim Shahdan, a senior leader in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps got taken out in a drone strike near the Iraqi/Syrian Border late Saturday/early Sunday. This comes days after the killing of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

    Shandan was traveling in a convoy delivering weapons and munitions into Syria when his vehicle was targeted by a drone.

    “Iraqi security sources told Saudi-based al-Arabiya News that a drone killed Muslim Shahdan, a senior commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, in a targeted strike on his car,” The Times of Israel reported. “The reports did not say who was behind the strike”. 

    I mentioned here that I thought some scores would be settled before the Biden camp takes over. Looks like I was correct. There will be more, and I expect some Hezbollah and Hamas heads to roll.

  • Even our Eagles don’t like Government snoops

    Even our Eagles don’t like Government snoops

    ESCANABA, Mich. (AP) — A bald eagle launched an aerial assault on a drone operated by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy — known as EGLE — ripping off a propeller and sending the aircraft into Lake Michigan.

    The attack happened July 21, when the drone was mapping shoreline erosion near Escanaba in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to document and help communities cope with high water levels, the department said in a statement.

    Environmental quality analyst and drone pilot Hunter King said he had completed about seven minutes of the mapping flight when satellite reception became spotty.

    King pressed a button to return the $950 drone to him and was viewing his video screen when the drone began to twirl.

    An Upper Peninsula bald eagle launched an airborne attack on a drone operated by a Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) pilot last month, tearing off a propeller and sending the aircraft to the bottom of Lake Michigan.

    The brazen eagle vs. EGLE onslaught took place near Escanaba in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on July 21 when EGLE environmental quality analyst and drone pilot Hunter King was mapping shoreline erosion for use in the agency’s efforts to document and help communities cope with high water levels.

    King had completed about seven minutes of the mapping flight — his fourth of the day in the area — when satellite reception got spotty. He pressed the “Go Home” recall button. The drone dutifully turned, reacquiring a strong satellite feed.

    King had completed about seven minutes of the mapping flight — his fourth of the day in the area — when satellite reception got spotty. He pressed the “Go Home” recall button. The drone dutifully turned, reacquiring a strong satellite feed.

    King was watching his video screen as the drone beelined for home, but suddenly it began twirling furiously. “It was like a really bad rollercoaster ride,” said King. When he looked up, the drone was gone, and an eagle was flying away. A nearby couple, whose pastimes include watching the local eagles attack seagulls and other birds, later confirmed they saw the eagle strike something but were surprised to learn it was a drone. Both King and the couple said the eagle appeared uninjured as it flew from the scene of the crime.

    The couple joined King in a search, but hours of scouring the shoreline were fruitless. Several days later, armed with telemetric data from the flight that pinpointed exactly where the drone hit the lake — 150 feet offshore in four feet of water – EGLE Unmanned Aircraft Systems coordinator Arthur Ostaszewski brought a kayak and snorkeling gear to the search. With near-zero visibility in water darkened by tannin, Ostaszewski scrapped the snorkel and instead walked a grid pattern shuffling his feet for two hours in soft muck (“like I was playing Battleship and wanted to cover the entire board”). He too was luckless, abandoned the search when lightning began to accompany a cold drizzle.

    Data from the flight records detailed the drone’s final moments:

    • The eagle strike occurred 7:39.7 into the flight roughly four-tenths of a mile from King and 162 feet above the water
    • Its speed instantly dropped from 22 mph to 10. Within a half-second the flight record shows the beginning of downward spiral along with “excessive spinning” warnings
    • In the next 3.5 seconds the drone sent 27 warning notifications including one indicating a propeller had been torn off
    • Gaining momentum as it fell, its last communication came at 34 feet above the water, falling at 30 feet per second, or 20.4 mph.

    The attack could have been a territorial squabble with the electronic foe, or just a hungry eagle. Or maybe it did not like its name being misspelled. EGLE’s drone team is considering steps to reduce the possibility of a repeat attack, including possibly using “skins” or other designs on the aircraft to make them look less like seagulls.

    Source: Shoreline-mapping EGLE drone sent to watery Lake Michigan grave by U.P. bald eagle

    Nature is a beautiful, cruel, and unforgiving mistress.