ROBOTS, DROIDS & DRONES: Counter Drone attacks in Iraq; Turkish UGV competition;

DEFENSE.

Drone Shot Down Near U.S. Embassy

An armed drone was shot down above the American embassy in Baghdad on July 5, just hours after a rocket attack on a base housing U.S. soldiers in the west of the country.

According to Agence France Presse reporters, U.S. defense systems fired rockets, taking down a drone laden with explosives.

The system was a counter-rocket, artillery and mortar system, known as C-RAM, said Army Colonel Wayne Marotto, a military spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition. Footage shared online overnight showed the system’s familiar stream of red tracers and exploding rounds arcing over part of Baghdad., the Stars and Stripes website reported.

Soldiers with B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery, from Fort Campbell, Ky., participate in a Counter — Rocket, Artillery and Mortar live-fire exercise, May 26, 2013, at Thompson Hill Range at Fort Sill, Okla. . (Photo: U.S. Army)

The systems can defend against unmanned aerial vehicles, but the cheap drones also can be flown to evade C-RAM fire. This has led to their adoption by Iran-backed militias that mount sporadic harassing attacks, sometimes with deadly effect, in an effort to oust U.S. forces deployed to Iraq to help battle the Islamic State group.

Since the start of the year, 47 attacks have targeted U.S. interests in the country, where 2,500 American troops are deployed as part of an international coalition to fight the jihadist Islamic State group.  Six of those attacks involved armed drones., according to AFP.

In April, a drone packed with explosives struck the coalition’s Iraq headquarters in the military part of the airport in Arbil, the Iraqi Kurdish regional capital. The next month, a drone packed with explosives hit the Ain Al-Asad airbase housing U.S. troops. On June 9, three explosives-laden drones targeted Baghdad airport, where US soldiers are also deployed. One was intercepted by the Iraqi army.

The attacks come as tension is on the rise between U.S. troops and Iran-backed fighters as Baghdad and Washington negotiate a timeline for foreign troop withdrawal from Iraq, according to the Associated Press. (via Stars and Stripes). Recently, the attacks have become more sophisticated, with militants using drones.

Late last month, U.S. warplanes hit facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups which the Pentagon said support drone strikes inside Iraq. Four Iraqi fighters were killed in the June 27 airstrikes, according to the AP.

“At President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces earlier this evening conducted defensive precision airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a June 27 statement, reported by Military Times. “The targets were selected because these facilities are utilized by Iran-backed militias that are engaged in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq.”

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Turkey’s Military UGV Search

Four unmanned ground vehicles are competing to enter service with Turkey’s military under the force’s medium-class UGV project, Defense News reports.

Turkey’s largest defense company, Aselsan, is participating in the competition with its Aslan UGV, while Havelsan is pitching its Barkan; Best Group is offering its Fedai; and Elektroland Defence is proposing its Hancer. All four UGVs are fitted with Aselsan’s SARP remote-controlled weapon system. To see photos of the vehicles and see the full story, click here.

According to a statement released by Turkey’s top defense procurement official, the indigenously produced UGVs have reached the final phase of the competition. The finalists carried out firing tests with their 7.62mm guns, and the contest is scheduled to conclude next month.

“We are determined to show our experience and success in unmanned systems in the air vehicles as well in the naval and land vehicles. Our prototype racing activities, which we started within the framework of our Medium Class 1st Level Unmanned Ground Vehicle Project, carry on.” Demir tweeted June 27.

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More from Turkey

Turkey’s first indigenous unmanned combat surface vessel, the ULAQ, conducted its first live-fire trial during a massive naval exercise in the Aegean and Mediterranean seas, that ended June 6.

The ULAQ, Turkey’s first combat unmanned surface vessel. (Courtesy Turkey)

The combat USV’s live-fire trial was not part of the training exercise, Denizkurdu, which involved 132 surface vessels, 10 submarines, 43 winged aircraft, 28 helicopters and 14 drones, Defense News reported.

Developed by Turkish defense companies Ares Shipyard and Meteksan Defence, ULAQ was launched in January and completed sea trials in April. During the live-fire trials, conducted as the last phase of acceptance tests for the Navy, it launched a laser-guided Cirit missile twice.  The first one involved telemetry, and the second used a real warhead hitting its target in the Eastern Mediterranean. The ULAQ was controlled from a mobile coastal control station and illuminated the target with a laser designator before firing.

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ENVIRONMENT

Saildrone is set to conduct an Arctic research mission — for the seventh consecutive year — with its autonomous unmanned surface vessels (USVs) powered by wind and sun, SEAPOWER magazine reports.

Saildrone’s arctic fleet ready to deploy in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. (Courtesy Saildrone)

The company is conducting the missions with six of its smallest USV, the 23-foot-long Explorer. The six USVs are being launched from Dutch Harbor, a port in the Aleutian Islands. Four of the USVs will collect data in the Bering Sea and two others will collect data in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in the Arctic Ocean.

The voyages are being conducted to collect atmospheric, oceanographic and bathymetric data for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA. The sensors on board the Saildrones will be collecting data on carbon dioxide dissolved in the water; bathymetry; climate and weather — including heat, radiation, carbon and atmospheric variables; wind speed and direction; and radiation and temperatures.

For maritime domain awareness, the Explorers also are fitted with 360-degree cameras that record visual information 24/7 using machine learning algorithms to spot anomalies, such as a passing vessel, imaging every five seconds.

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INDUSTRY

Autonomous Ground Effect Vessels

Flying Ship Technologies Corp. has signed a $100 million sales agreement with a European customer for the purchase of wing-in-ground-effect maritime vessels, according to the SEAPOWER website.

Flying Ship Technologies is developing autonomous ground effect vessels that fly just over the water, which the company says are: Ten times faster than boats, a quarter of the cost to maintain and operate compared to planes; provide tens of thousands of additional coastal access points, and are dramatically cleaner for the environment.

“These vessels will provide fast, low-cost delivery to a wide range of coastal locations around continental Europe and the surrounding islands. Flying Ships will improve the quality of life for consumers by enhancing existing trade routes and opening new routes to deliver fresh foods, medical supplies, and e-commerce, while being carbon-neutral and a fraction of the cost of air freight,” Flying Ship CEO Bill Peterson said in a July 8 statement.