Mini-helicopter UAV as anti-piracy device and lawman's tool
Way back about 50 – 55 years, one of the coolest gifts one could get would be a nice looking balsa model of a flying plane, one that could glide some distance before gravity took over. One day, however, our dad came home with a plastic molded plane that looked suspiciously like a Piper or Cessna high wing single engine plane. It could fly in circles, tethered to the handler by a couple of long and light nylon strings. The plane was powered by a strange fuel that we had to inject with a syringe into the motor area itself. This fling plane was relatively unsophisticated, but lots of fun to play with in an empty lot.
Until the day we first laid our eyes on a pair of what looked like remote controlled model aircraft, which we saw being adroitly put through a series of maneuvers by a couple of guys who we later found out to be visiting crew from a US warship. This was eye candy for young boys who liked planes and ships, and who had seen the ultimate in toys just then. Of course, over the years, the remote controlled plans, tanks, and even ships have become rather sophisticated compared to those first iterations we bumped into.
Friends of mine who actually fly their own remote control model planes aside from the real stuff talk of wonderful versions of helicopters that they prefer because of the ability to hover and do things that only a chopper can.
Fast forward to the ultimate in remote control helicopters and we have the Skyhawk UAV, a mini-helicopter developed by Vanguard Industries that can fly up to 70 mph and do things that no ordinary chopper toy can. Versions of the Skyhawk are now being used to shadow pirates off African coasts and to enforce the law in certain US cities.
One can therefore envision the use of the Skyhawk as a self defense tool against carnappers and kidnappers, the more garden variety of crook found in our neck of the woods. Or the typical Abu Sayaff bandit who tends to kidnap hapless individuals as part of their regular fund-raising efforts.
The Skyhawk can be armed with cameras that operate in real time or record events. They also fire tasers, grenades, and shotgun shells – which gives the Skyhawk some bite. It can also disable foes by firing stun-gun baton rounds. In the not too distant future, we can expect more lethal cargo to be unleashed by this mini-helicopter.
This is a better proposition than a certain civilian helicopter being panned off as a police chopper in one circle in particular, one that can even up the odds without putting lawmen at risk. - Article courtesy of Manila Bulletin.
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