Now we've got "SUV-sized" drones over the eastern US

SOC

SOC

I look at pictures all day
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Sooner or later, someone is going to catch an AIM-120 or something with one of these because nobody in these companies thought to inform the officials they'd be doing some test flight.
 
Colonial-Marine said:
Sooner or later, someone is going to catch an AIM-120 or something with one of these because nobody in these companies thought to inform the officials they'd be doing some test flight.
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Test flight? You can buy one for $190k, delivered in 6 month.

The range and payload isn't enough for the transportation market, but it works as a toy.
 
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shin_getter said:
Test flight? You can buy one for $190k, delivered in 6 month.

The range and payload isn't enough for all the transportation market, but it works as a toy.
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Just going off the numbers it seems like it's above the ultralight class unless it's some smaller model. Either way I have to assume some FAA regulations aren't being followed here since nobody seems to know who they belong to.
 
I agree with shin_getter above, that is very similar to the Helix Pivotal eVTOL. Pivotal website below.

pivotal.aero

Pivotal

Pivotal is redefining personal aviation with cutting-edge eVTOL technology, bringing the future of flight to today.
pivotal.aero pivotal.aero
 
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Generally, what people in NJ have been seeing:

- Frequently green, white, and red lights (i.e. the object has all 3 lights)
- Exclusively seen at night
- Frequently several at a time, in "formation" or together
- Various agencies have been approaching them with helicopters, when the helicopters get close the UAVs turn off their lights and leave
- They are frequently seen aloft for more than an hour, sometimes covering 20 miles or more

A number of people have said these were car-sized. I don't really buy that, estimating the size of unfamiliar aircraft at night is very difficult. Maybe some are that big, maybe not.

Many people have said they are "silent". Not being able to hear something is different than it being "silent".

NJ has a *lot* of general aviation traffic. There are many corporations based there that use helicopters, etc. There have been many misidentifications of GA aircraft.

This also means that these UAVs are a hazard to other aircraft.

Some people believe they have seen them coming and going from the direction of the ocean (i.e. they may be heading back and forth from a ship).

IMG_4087.JPG
 
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quellish said:
- Various agencies have been approaching them with helicopters, when the helicopters get close the UAVs turn off their lights and leave
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Seems like its a job...... for a low signature drone with nightvision/thermal camera to chase it down and track its landing spot.

and the number of unidentified drones increases~
 
It really shouldn't be that hard to figure out this. Someone wake up the New Jersey ANG. I find it hard to believe the helicopters sent up after them didn't have a good FLIR sensor in this day and age.
 
quellish said:
Generally, what people in NJ have been seeing:

- Frequently green, white, and red lights (i.e. the object has all 3 lights)
- Exclusively seen at night
- Frequently several at a time, in "formation" or together
- Various agencies have been approaching them with helicopters, when the helicopters get close the UAVs turn off their lights and leave
- They are frequently seen aloft for more than an hour, sometimes covering 20 miles or more

A number of people have said these were car-sized. I don't really buy that, estimating the size of unfamiliar aircraft at night is very difficult. Maybe some are that big, maybe not.

Many people have said they are "silent". Not being able to hear something is different than it being "silent".

NJ has a *lot* of general aviation traffic. There are many corporations based there that use helicopters, etc. There have been many misidentifications of GA aircraft.

This also means that these UAVs are a hazard to other aircraft.

Some people believe they have seen them coming and going from the direction of the ocean (i.e. they may be heading back and forth from a ship).

View attachment 751745
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Lets look at the bright side, somehow they've evolved far enough not to call them "UFOs" any more...... Lets take this victory and enjoy it for a moment.
 
sublight_ said:
Lets look at the bright side, somehow they've evolved far enough not to call them "UFOs" any more...... Lets take this victory and enjoy it for a moment.
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There's been a continual evolution of what unexplained aerial phenomena are called, back in the 1890s people were seeing phantom airships.
 
quellish said:
Generally, what people in NJ have been seeing:

- Frequently green, white, and red lights (i.e. the object has all 3 lights)
- Exclusively seen at night
- Frequently several at a time, in "formation" or together
- Various agencies have been approaching them with helicopters, when the helicopters get close the UAVs turn off their lights and leave
- They are frequently seen aloft for more than an hour, sometimes covering 20 miles
Click to expand...
Well, I wonder how many people know that airplanes have green, red and white navigation lights, a white strobe and a red beacon light.

Because what you just described is exactly what airplanes and helicopters do.
 
Nefarious drone activity doesn't have to be national security related.

Does the US have the same problem with drones ferrying contraband into prisons that we're seeing in the UK?

And are there any prisons in the area?

www.gov.uk

New prison ‘no-fly zones’ for drug-delivering drones

Vast new ’no-fly zones’ will be enforced over all prisons in England and Wales to crack down on gangs using drones to smuggle drugs, phones and weapons that drive criminality behind bars.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

Drones could bring in more 'risky' items to prison, inspector warns

Security in prisons is being compromised, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons says.
www.bbc.co.uk
 
Moose said:
That's a pretty normal looking plane with lighting/shadow exacerbated by a terrible zoom.
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Can’t see them on infrared, but they have lights on. NWS Earle hasn’t shot them down when flying on their property?


Still miffed I haven’t seen one.
 
These are secret military aircraft. Government spokesmen are doing the same thing they've been doing since 1947: "We can't identify them. They are not a threat to national security." So, something you cannot identify is not a threat to national security. Yeah. Right.

The President-elect has stated they should be shot down. Good idea.

The following message was NOT sent:

"Dear Mr. President-elect. Do not shoot down the drones. After you are sworn in, we will explain things, sort of..."
 
Highly likely drones of American government doing trial runs done in urban environment.
Unsurprising if turns out in near future it is disclosed or exposed as surveillance program.
 
These news item bring a thing to mind, I don't expect any direct or even indirect connection, but someone somewhere testing, or employing, similar may be a potential possibility.

Airbus and German Drone Developer Successfully Test AI-Driven Swarm Technology for the Bundeswehr​


September 19, 2024 by Miriam McNabb Leave a Comment

AI-Powered Drones Demonstrate Advanced Capabilities in Radio-Jammed Environments, Paving the Way for Future Combat Systems​

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian J. McNabb

European aerospace giant Airbus and German drone developer Quantum Systems recently announced that their AI drone swarm technology had been successfully tested at the Airbus Drone Center near Manching, marking the conclusion of testing sponsored by the Bundeswehr.
Commissioned by the German Armed Forces in July 2023, the study aims to maximize the potential of artificial intelligence to coordinate mixed UAS swarms with different capabilities. The specially developed mission-AI “controls and coordinates the UAS systems to ensure reliable mission execution even in scenarios with radio interference or a complete failure of individual drones.” To train the AI, Quantum Systems and Spleenlab used deep reinforcement learning in a controlled environment to ensure precise and valid decisionmaking

As part of the testing, Vector and Scorpion UAVs from Quantum Systems, alongside two other multi-purpose drones from Airbus, were deployed in an AI-powered “swarm” configuration. The reconnaissance data from all drones was merged in real-time to form a joint situational picture, which was then integrated into the Airbus “Fortion Joint C2” battle management system. The Vector drones demonstrated their ability to autonomously perform missions such as joint reconnaissance and target acquisition under GPS-denied conditions (GNSS denied). As systems jamming remains a significant threat in difficult operating environments like Ukraine, the success of these tests highlights the potential for AI to aid in real battlefield conditions.

Sven Kruck, CRO and Managing Director of Quantum Systems, said, “We are not just expanding the technological capabilities of our drones. We give customers and users a real advantage in real-life scenarios. It’s about protecting soldiers and increasing safety. In the future, there will be no way around software-based and AI-supported systems for drone technology.”
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dronelife.com

Airbus and German Drone Developer Successfully Test AI-Driven Swarm Technology for the Bundeswehr

Airbus and German drone developer successfully Quantum Systems test AI-driven drone swarm technology for the Bundeswehr,
dronelife.com dronelife.com
 
GTX said:
www.twz.com

None Of The New Jersey Visual Drone Sightings Have Been Corroborated: White House

The White House says federal, state, and local authorities have not corroborated any purported visual sightings of drones over New Jersey.
www.twz.com www.twz.com
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There has been some new information
- Various agencies have used their own drones and helicopters equipped with FLIR to chase the objects. The objects are not hot like commercial drones, and when their lights go out they are hard to track with the FLIR - they disappear into the background clutter.

- Individuals and agencies have used frequency counters to try to identify how the objects are being controlled. So far they have not been detecting common hobbyist/commercial drone frequencies or cell phone frequencies. The control signals could be highly directional, or they could be satellite, something else.

- There have been a lot of misidentifications of aircraft. Many of the photos of the objects that people are saying are "good" are photos of the State Police AW139 that has been chasing the objects, not the objects themselves.

- I have seen one video taken with a low light camera that does appear to show a delta winged object with a vertical tail hovering, that does appear to be more than 10' in length. It looks a lot like an F-106, hovering, with lights along the leading edge.

As far as the statements by the executive branch that they have not seen any risk to public safety, that is misguided. There are aircraft flying in busy airspace illegally without any coordination with ATC, etc. That is a clear hazard to public safety.
 
F-2 said:
Can’t see them on infrared, but they have lights on. NWS Earle hasn’t shot them down when flying on their property?


Still miffed I haven’t seen one.
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I haven't seen one either, and I'm relatively close to Earle.

A few years back, I used to see an E-2 Hawkeye flying out of Lakehurst. (coming from the right direction, anyway) If there's still one there, maybe they should give their radar operators some practice.

DRW
 
quellish said:
As far as the statements by the executive branch that they have not seen any risk to public safety, that is misguided. There are aircraft flying in busy airspace illegally without any coordination with ATC, etc. That is a clear hazard to public safety.
Click to expand...

Hmm... this sounds familiar. Something about "unprofessional behaviors" rings a bell. Let's hope they're not deluding themselves into thinking this isn't a clear & present danger... that didn't go so well last October. Given the escalating violence world wide I would hope that would offer a far more "proactive" public response. This is one of those ominous moments of foreshadowing which makes for great horror movies.
 
sublight_ said:
That definitely looks like Sony a7S III footage. It has an expanded ISO in the 400,000 range.

EDIT: Oh wow, its a Canon R5 .
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Sadly not a Canon ML
 
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