The Swarm: Military Unveils Insect-Sized Spy Drones

 

The next time you swat at a pesky mosquito or other insect buzzing around your head, you might want to take a second look. It could be a military spy drone with a built in camera and microphone!


Over recent years a range of miniature drones, or micro air vehicles (MAVs), based on the same physic principles used by flying insects, have been presented to the public. While it may seem like something out of novel by the late techno-thriller author Michael Crichton, experts assert that the technology is indeed quite real and that the US government is probably already utilizing it for surveillance purposes, both abroad and within the country as well.


In 2008, US Air Force unveiled insect-sized spies as small as a bumblebee that could not be detected by conventional radar and would be able to fly into buildings to photograph, record, and even attack insurgents and terrorists. The Air Force also revealed what was dubbed "mini-lethal drones" the same year, allegedly designed by using Leonardo da Vinci's blueprints for his famed Ornithopter flying machine, and claimed they would be ready for roll out by 2015.

The goal of the new breed of surveillance craft is to combine swarm technology with bio-inspired drones to operate with little or no direct human supervision in a dynamic, resource-constrained, adversarial environment.

Scientists and military experts have often looked to the natural world as inspiration for terrestrial as well as space craft, integrating elements used by birds and insects to create the perfect flying machine.

Invaders from Mars? Drone Aircraft Being Transported on US Highway Causes Alien Invasion Rumors

Sightings of a strange, unidentified object being transported by an eighteen-wheeler around the Washington, DC, area had many people believing alien visitors had arrived in the US capital!

Motorists began taking snapshots of the UFO-shaped object strapped down to a flatbed big rig on Wednesday evening. Soon enough, the pictures had already made their way onto social media sites Facebook and Twitter, sparking rampant rumors that alien invaders had made First Contact with earthlings.

Concerned citizens also began to call local emergency services to report the UFO being escorted down the Capital Beltway. When an emergency dispatcher asked one witness to describe the object, he hesitantly said "a UFO. I mean, I don't really know. I don't see too many UFO's on a regular basis."

As it turns out, the mystery object was an unmanned drone aircraft being transported to a top secret location. Drones have been used in the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan to patrol troubled regions and to report back high-tech surveillance. The US government has announced a controversial plan to begin using drone craft within the United States. Recently, an airplane flying over Denver, Colorado, had a very close encounter with an alleged drone aircraft, almost prompting a mid-air collision.