Apparently the pilots of an unmanned, but armed, MQ-9 Reaper drone lost control of the UAV a few days ago. The resulting manned mission to take it down was mounted almost immediately and ended successfully before the drone reached the edges of Afghanistan's airspace.

I wonder what would've happened if the Reaper hadn't been shot down. It is typically used for "hunter-killer" missions and targets enemies on the ground. Would it continue a mission like that without operator input?

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles like the Reaper are supposed to be programmed to return to their home bases in case they lose contact with their pilots. There's no explanation as to why the fail-safe didn't kick in for this particular Reaper. Nor is this incident the first time that a UAV has been shot down by intentional friendly fire. What's going on and when can I start to panic? [Aviation Weekly via Popular Science]

The image above comes from Aeronvironment, and shows what it wants the prototype in the video below to ultimately look like. DARPA's goal is to have a 10 gram aircraft with a 7.5-centimetre wingspan. They want it to get into tight hiding spaces and send back GPS and image data.

Aeronvironment's progress is also notable because such robots previously couldn't carry their own batteries, and had to use guide wires.

"It is capable of climbing and descending vertically, flying sideways left and right, as well as forward and backward, under remote control," says the company.

[New Scientist]

As part of their work at MIT's Humans and Automation Lab (HAL, heh), the team thought about ways to improve on the suitcase-sized controller that soldiers must currently lug around to control hand-thrown Raven UAVs.

The iPhone app they developed sends GPS coordinates to the craft, which then in turn can send photos and video back to the iPhone.

We had the idea in June," Cummings told Danger Room. "In six weeks, we went from the idea to a real flight test," using MIT's indoor robot range. (See video.) The total cost? $5,000 for a new, commercially available, quad-rotor robot - plus the cost of iPhones for her crew.

[Wired Danger Room] DoD photo by Tech. Sergeant Russell E. Cooley IV, U.S. Air Force.

In a recent briefing, the Department of Defense laid out its new plans: Smaller and far more precise UAVs with badass names like "Suburb Warrior" and "Sniper" that will hunt in groups, rather than just blowing suspected hideouts to pieces with Hellfire missiles. The Suburb Warrior, for example, is designed to fire volleys of mini-missiles in tight formation, which makes a nice change from previous missiles that often demolished entire city blocks.

Unfortunately, these new UAVs should see production in about five years, by which time who knows what kind of battles we'll need to fight—or who'll be leading the Pentagon. But it's a step in the right direction, that's for sure. [Esquire]

The X6 is a spy drone with wireless video and still cameras (in hi-def, infra-red and 0 lux flavors) that can fly autonomously, or as a remote-controlled bot. It has 11 sensors (including gyros, accelerometers, barometers, magnetometers and GPS) and is so easy to pilot, a Wii gamer could do it. Now it will be used by the Ontario Provincial Police and the Saskatoon Police to patrol crime scenes and help gather evidence.

At it's core, this is the same Draganflyer X6 we've come to know and love in the past, but now with a shiny police badge and a healthy distaste for crime. Canadian perps, be afraid. Be very, very afraid. [Draganfly]

Though the ability to hover at extremely low altitudes has some obvious military applications, the fact that drones may now be able to dodge unanticipated barriers could help UAVs fly in civilian airspace, something which regulatory authorities in this country don't traditionally allow unless they have a reasonable guarantee against the surprise pulping of unsuspecting bystanders. [NewScientist]

Combine that with the fact that high-end Predator pilots are severely fatigued from round-the-clock duty, and you can see why the DoD is making this move. It would expand the fleet of armed UAVs and make them cheaper to operate overall. Sure, the thought of 18 or 19 year old pilots fresh out of basic behind the controls of these machines is a bit unsettling—but it's not like this would be the first time the US threw a teenager into battle. Plus, we are taking about unmanned vehicles looking for specific, high-value targets. There is probably less chance of major incidents involving friendly fire or civilian casualties. [Inside Defense via Danger Room]

"The next generation of airborne drones won’t just be small and silent," says the multidisciplinary group, "they’ll alter their wing shapes using morphing techniques to squeeze through confined spaces, dive between buildings, zoom under overpasses, land on apartment balconies, or sail along the coastline."

The researchers behind the project view the pterodactyl as one of the most successful flying creatures to ever soar above the Earth—so, naturally, a robotic version might prove useful in gathering information and maybe even conducting military strikes somewhere down the line. Nothing would strike fear into the hearts of terrorists like a squadron of pterodactyls swooping down and devouring their comrades one by one. [Science Daily]

[PopMech]

You could also have a refreshing break with a water bottle next to this Dok-Ing Croatian mine-sweeper.

Give the kids a chance to see what it's like to look down the firing sights of a shoulder-launched missile.

Or, better yet, the sights of this gigantic cannon.

Fondly stroke a grenade launcher, perhaps.

Or stand on the business end of some pretty demonic-looking UAVs on their launch sleds.

Plenty more fun to be had over at: [English Russia]

There are a few Wings currently manned by Predator UAVs, which can indeed carry Hellfire missiles, but unlike the Reaper, their main mission is reconnaissance. Quite the contrary, the Reaper is the first true hunter-killer UAV, and its 66-foot wingspan and the ability to carry up to 1.5 tons of laser-guided bombs and other ordnances makes the Predator look like a fluttering sparrow.

And over Iraq, the Reaper can do the targeting-pod recon and close-air support that manned jets most commonly find themselves tasked with at a fraction of the cost (Reapers cost $18 million each, compared to three times that much for an F-16). Not to mention without the operational expenses or potential danger to the pilots, who can be in Las Vegas munching Taco Bell with their families. [Strategy Page via /.]

So far it only carries cameras and recon gear, but the company claims it can be fitted with a variety of different modular systems which could include weapons. For now, buyers will have to settle for chemical snifters, missile launch detectors, and an "RFID Interrogator," which might just be tactical speak for "RFID reader for border-jumpers' passports." [G-NIUS via CNET]

Well, given the fact that the Airknife design is actually a parody of a UAV dubbed the AirSniper, I think not. That drone was discovered by a Wired editor in an ad placed in a recent issue of Unmanned Systems magazine. Apparently, the AirSniper is an unmanned quadcopter that doubles as an assault rifle—and it is being developed by a suspiciously mysterious company named AUS International.

It may be a joke, but I get the feeling that a gigantic flying bowie knife would be even more intimidating than a UAV loaded with missiles or guns. Talk about a surgical strike! [Danger Room]

In an interview with CNN, Captain Matt Dean noted that "Seeing bad guys on the screen and watching them possibly get dispatched, and then going down to the Taco Bell for lunch, it's kind of surreal." In fact, their entire workday is fairly normal with shifts that rotate around the clock to prevent fatigue. Seems pretty cushy...if blowing terrorists up doesn't make you lose your appetite for the cheesy gordita crunch, that is. [CNN]

To recharge, the DevilRay uses a combination of GPS and a magnometer to home in on power lines, and after it latches on it pulls electricity with electromagnetic induction. I guess if you've already got surveillance UAVs buzzing around the sky in a foreign country, you're probably not overly worried about stealing some power. It remains to be seen if this function will even work in practice, but if it does it would effectively provide infinite range. Testing of the power line piggybacking is scheduled for later this month. [Ares]

The algorithms the team develops will allow hovering 'bots like STARMAC to navigate, deal with collisions or avoidance and even to work as a team, sharing info on their environment and navigating around each other.

That has all sorts of cool implications for things like future automated search and rescue drones, able to search large areas efficiently and quickly. But it also means spy 'bots. And when you've watched the video, you'll have to agree that the way the things move reminds you of the flying cameras in (insert name of sci-fi movie of your choice). [Danger Room]