-Caveat Lector-
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Forwarded from the New Paradigms Project [Not Necessarily Endorsed]:
From: Book Search Co-ordinator <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Insect-sized flying spy cameras
Date: Monday, November 08, 1999 9:40 PM
Yikes! This is a nightmare!
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Newsgroups: alt.conspiracy
Date: Monday, November 08, 1999 7:08 AM
Subject: Insect-sized flying spy cameras
November 8, 1999 The Times
_Insect-size camera will be spy in sky_
BY MICHAEL EVANS, DEFENCE EDITOR
Microscopic planes, with cameras not much bigger than insects, are being
developed by American scientists to spy on enemy positions in wars of the
future.
An extraordinary array of micro air vehicles (MAVs), all easily held in the
palm of the hand, is emerging from experimental laboratories throughout the
United States. Most are only six inches long.
Although their size would limit their operational range, research is under way
to design small rockets that could propel them long distances.
Compared with the 103ft wingspan of manned American U2 spy planes that take
photographs from an altitude of more than 70,000ft, the MAVs will be tiny
cousins. But the idea of minute surveillance planes taking pictures of enemy
troops from only 300ft up is being taken seriously in the US, according to
the latest edition of Jane's International Defence Review.
One MAV being developed by the US Naval Research Laboratory has electric
motors on each wingtip to drive folding propellers. The report says that the
US Navy is mainly interested in a MAV capable of radar jamming, and its
tactical electronic warfare division is designing one with sufficient power
for flights of up to 30 minutes. One idea is for a pencil-shaped motor
"weighing no more than six grammes". Its speed would be about 30ft a second -
as fast as an Olympic sprinter.
Studies in America on hand-size spy planes began in the early 1990s, and two
years ago the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) launched a
four-year MAV programme costing $35 million (£23 million). It chose six
inches as the maximum dimension for MAVs, deliberately to push the technology
as far as possible.
The report adds: "The small size and light weight of MAVs result in many
potential advantages. In addition to low cost and inherently stealthy
operation - in terms of noise, radar and visual signatures - these include
the ability to carry out unconventional missions."
One role could be to detect and identify biological or chemical agents. If
used as a radar-jammer, it could "fly close enough to the target to be
effective". Another concept is to provide a downed pilot with reconnaissance
information or to transmit a signal for search and rescue forces.
Jane's said that prototypes cost up to $50,000 each (about £33,000), but DARPA
expected this to drop to $5,000 in production and "hopes to achieve a figure
as low as $1,000".
Aerodynamics is one of the main challenges for designers. "The small size and
low speed means they operate in an environment more common to small birds and
large insects."
Researchers are developing a camera that weighs less than one gramme, with an
aperture of 2.6mm capable of clear images from 300ft high.
Different ways are being studied for launching MAVs. Apart from tiny rockets,
other ideas include "piggy-backing" them on air-launched guided missiles or
releasing them from unmanned air vehicles such as the American Predator used
over Kosovo and Bosnia.
_China's flyweight helicopter_
CHINESE engineers have developed the world's smallest spy helicopter, less
than Gin long and capable of landing on a peanut (Oliver August writes).
Carrying a camera or explosive charge, it could gain access to sensitive
areas through a crack in a wall. Dr Cai Bingchu, from Shanghai's Jiatong
University, said: "All sorts of people have expressed an interest, even
toymakers". The main users, however, are likely to be industrial or military
spies, as the tiny craft is likely to cost several thousand pounds.
Paul Beaver, a defence analyst at Jane's Defence Weekly, said that the Chinese
appeared to have outdone the Americans, who say their mini-craft can land on
the palm of a hand. The engines have six gears to allow the helicopter to
land gently. At maximum power the engines turn at 25,000 rpm - up to five
times faster than a car engine on a motorway. The main remaining problem is
steering.
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