20 septembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Sécurité
By CINDY CHANG
Drones became a permanent part of the Los Angeles Police Department's crime-fighting arsenal Tuesday, despite opposition from privacy advocates who fear the remote-controlled aircraft will be used to spy on people.
In a yearlong trial, the LAPD's SWAT team deployed drones four times, mostly when suspects were barricaded and the device provided a bird's eye view of the property's nooks and crannies.
On Tuesday, the five-member civilian Police Commission unanimously approved new regulations that enshrine the drones' use in specific situations, including active shooters, barricaded suspects and search warrants.
The drones will not be equipped with weapons or facial recognition software, according to the regulations, which are similar to those governing the trial program.
In July, at Chief Michel Moore's recommendation, the use of drones was expanded beyond SWAT to include the bomb squad in neutralizing explosives and sweeping large public events for radioactive devices.
Drones “provide invaluable information to decision makers while decreasing the risk to human life,” Moore wrote in a July 3 report, noting that everyone is safer when the devices check out a dangerous situation instead of officers going in blind.
The LAPD joins about 600 other law enforcement agencies around the country that use drones, according to a 2018 report by Bard College's Center For the Study of the Drone.
The new regulations will ensure that the drones are not “being used in a flippant manner,” Asst. Chief Horace Frank, who runs the department's counter-terrorism and special operations bureau, told the Police Commission on Tuesday.
The LAPD's drone regulations are more restrictive than those of many other agencies, Frank said. Each drone deployment must be approved by a commander and a deputy chief, and the Police Commission will receive an annual report.
Asked by Commissioner Eileen Decker whether drones can help de-escalate volatile situations, Frank cited a June 15 incident when a drone flew near a man who had barricaded himself in a trucking yard.
“The minute we deployed the device at the entrance to the trailer and he saw it, he gave up,” Frank said.
Activists said the LAPD and Police Commission have disregarded citizens who expressed reservations about the drones in community meetings and online surveys.
One activist, Michael Novick, predicted that the LAPD would expand drone usage and infringe on civil liberties.
“We're witnessing the exact definition of mission creep,” Novick said. “Now you're upgrading. You approved a temporary pilot project. You're going to normalize it with this step. ... The next step will be they'll come back and say, ‘We actually need the ability to have facial recognition.'”
The LAPD's drone fleet will remain at four strong, Frank said. But the DJI Spark devices used in the pilot program will be replaced by DJI Mavics, which have better indoor flying capabilities, extended flight time and lights for navigating in the dark. The models are similar to those used by hobbyists.
The Police Commission accepted a $6,645 donation from the Los Angeles Police Foundation to purchase the Mavics, as well as a donation of drone flight tracking software from Measure Aerial Intelligence.
As the commission approved the drone regulations and donations, the audience broke into chants of “Shame! Shame!”
Moore said he is mindful of “concerns of Big Brother and invasion of privacy and civil liberties.”
“We're committed to striking the right balance that ... protects all of our community — their rights of privacy but also their public safety and their right to exist without threats of dangers that this tool can be used in some instances to mitigate,” he told reporters after the meeting.
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PrecISR™ radars are currently operated by experienced ISR operators from CAE Aviation in challenging areas of operations for various types of missions and for very demanding end-users
22 juillet 2021 | International, Aérospatial
MC2 Technologies, société fondée par des universitaires lillois qui développe des technologies de pointe dans les hyperfréquences dédiées à la lutte antidrones et à la détection d'objets cachés, a annoncé son rachat par le fonds Andera Partners, appuyé par Bpifrance. Andera Partners reprend ainsi le leadership sur un actionnaire chinois. La société, fondée en 2004, a notamment mis au point, avec l'appui d'un programme d'aide aux PME innovantes de la Direction générale de l'armement, un scanner portable pour la sécurité et la lutte antiterroriste, ainsi qu'une technologie de destruction des drones, que les forces armées françaises ont classifiée. Les Echos du 22 juillet
15 octobre 2019 | International, Aérospatial
WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Army recently awarded Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) a $40.6 million contract to produce Modernized Turrets (M-TUR) for the AH-64E Apache helicopter, an upgrade to the Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight and Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) system with enhanced operational and performance capabilities. "Our primary objective with the Modernized Turret is to improve system performance, increase reliability, and reduce required maintenance and support costs," said Tom Eldredge, director of Apache Fire Control programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "The M-TUR demonstrates our commitment to delivering advanced, affordable capabilities and innovative solutions to our nation's warfighters, enabling increased readiness, reliability and survivability in battle." In addition to performance improvements that provide greater rates and acceleration of sensors in azimuth and elevation, M-TUR's new modular design improves turret reliability by 40 percent and reduces operation and support costs with a dramatic decrease in time required to conduct flight line maintenance. The design also allows for subassembly replacement on the flight line and includes higher reliability components that will improve aircraft availability. M-TADS/PNVS provides Apache helicopter pilots with long-range, precision engagement and pilotage capabilities for mission success and flight safety during day and night, and in adverse weather conditions. Lockheed Martin has delivered more than 1,400 M-TADS/PNVS systems and spares to the U.S. Army and 16 international customers in 15 nations over the last 14 years. For additional information, visit our website: www.lockheedmartin.com/mturret. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 105,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. SOURCE Lockheed Martin https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2019-10-15-Lockheed-Martins-Modernized-Turret-Adds-Performance-Operational-Capabilities-to-the-AH-64E-Apache-Helicopter