Tag Archives: Drone

Suspected North Korea drone spied on U.S. anti-missile system: South Korea officials

FILE PHOTO: A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor is launched during a successful intercept test, in this undated handout photo provided by the U.S. Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency. U.S. Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency/Handout via Reuters/File Photo

SEOUL (Reuters) – A suspected North Korean drone had taken photographs of an advanced U.S. anti-missile battery in South Korea before it crashed on its way home, the South Korean military said on Tuesday.

The drone, mounted with a camera, was found last week in a forest near the border with North Korea. It was similar in size and shape to a North Korean drone found in 2014 on an island near the border.

“We confirmed that it took about 10 photos,” of the anti-missile system, known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), a South Korean Defense Ministry official said by telephone.

The drone was suspected to be from North Korea, the official added.

South Korea is hosting the anti-missile defense system in the Seongju region, about 250 km (155 miles) from the border with North Korea, to counter a growing missile threat from the North.

“We will come up with measures to deal with North Korean drones,” said an official at South Korea’s Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who also declined to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to the media.

North Korean drones are known to have flown over South Korea several times.

North Korea has about 300 unmanned aerial vehicles of different types including one designed for reconnaissance as well as combat drones, the United Nations said in a report last year.

The North Korean drones recovered in South Korea were probably procured through front companies in China, with parts manufactured in China, the Czech Republic, Japan and the United States, it added.

The neighbors are technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce and not a peace treaty.

South Korea and the United States agreed last year to deploy the THAAD unit in response to North Korea’s relentless development of its ballistic missiles, and nuclear weapons, in defiance of U.N. sanctions.

China strongly objects to the THAAD system saying its powerful radar can probe deep into its territory, undermining its security and upsetting a regional balance. China also says the system does nothing to deter North Korea.

South Korea and the United States say the system is aimed solely at defending against North Korean missiles.

(Reporting by Yuna Park; Editing by Kim Coghill, Robert Birsel)

South Korea finds apparent North Korean drone near border

A small aircraft what South Korea's Military said is believed to be a North Korean drone, is seen at a mountain near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas in Inje, South Korea in this handout picture provided by the Defence Ministry and released by News1 on June 9, 2017. The Defence Ministry/News1 via REUTERS

By Ju-min Park

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea has found what appears to be a North Korean drone equipped with a camera on a mountain near its border with the isolated nation, the South’s military said on Friday, suggesting the device was on a spying mission.

Its appearance a day after Pyongyang tested a new type of anti-ship missile on Thursday, could spark questions about the state of South Korea’s air defenses at a time when Seoul is trying to rein in the North’s nuclear and missile programs.

In size and shape, the device looked like a North Korean drone found in 2014 on an island near the border, South Korea’s Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, adding that authorities plan to conduct a close analysis.

“The drone found this time looks sloppy but slightly more slender than previous ones,” a South Korean military official told Reuters on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The device would be the latest of several North Korean drones to have flown into the South, with which Pyongyang is technically at war after the Korean war ended in a truce, rather than a peace treaty, in 1953.

In 2014, South Korea said three unmanned drones from North Korea were found in border towns.

A joint investigation by South Korean and U.S. militaries has concluded the craft were on reconnaissance missions for the North, which has denied sending spy drones, however, dismissing the findings as a fabrication.

Last year, South Korea fired warning shots at a suspected North Korean drone, forcing it to turn back.

North Korea owns around 300 unmanned aerial vehicles of different types including reconnaissance, target and combat drones, the United Nations said in a report last year.

The North Korean drones recovered in South Korea were probably procured through front companies in China, with parts manufactured in China, the Czech Republic, Japan and the United States, it added.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Soyoung Kim and Clarence Fernandez)

South Korea fires at suspected drone at border with North amid missile crisis

Ballistic rocket is seen launching during a drill by the Hwasong artillery units of the KPA Strategic Force, July 2016. KCNA/via REUTERS

By Ju-min Park and Christine Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s military fired warning shots at a suspected drone from North Korea on Tuesday amid tension over Pyongyang’s latest missile test which drew international condemnation and a warning from China.

The identity of the object remained unclear, the military said, but Yonhap news agency said it was possibly a drone, more than 90 shots were fired in return and it disappeared from radar screens.

The incursion came with tension already high on the Korean peninsula after the North’s test-launch of a ballistic missile test on Sunday which Pyongyang said proved advances in its pursuit of building a nuclear-tipped weapon that can hit U.S. targets.

The United States has been trying to persuade China, North Korea’s lone major ally, to do more to rein in North Korea, which has conducted dozens of missile launches and tested two nuclear bombs since the start of last year, in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions and resolutions.

The North has made no secret of its plans to develop a missile capable of striking the United States and has ignored calls to halt its weapons programs, even from China. It says the program is necessary to counter U.S. aggression.

“We urge North Korea to not do anything to again violate U.N. Security Council resolutions,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a statement posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website on Tuesday.

“At the same time, we hope all parties can maintain restraint, not be influenced by every single incident, …persist in carrying out Security Council resolutions on North Korea and persevere with the resolution of the issue through peaceful means, dialogue and consultation.”

Wang was responding to reporters’ questions on Monday while in Ivory Coast, according to the statement.

The North’s official KCNA news agency, citing the spokesman for the foreign ministry, said the country had “substantially displayed” the capabilities for mounting a nuclear attack on Hawaii and Alaska and had built full capabilities for attacking the U.S. mainland.

U.S. and South Korean officials and experts believe the North is several years away from having such a capability.

North Korea said on Monday that Sunday’s launch met all technical requirements that could allow mass-production of the missile, which it calls the Pukguksong-2.

The test was North Korea’s second in a week and South Korea’s new liberal government said it dashed its hopes for peace on the peninsula.

The U.N. Security Council condemned the launch and again expressed its concern over the North’s behavior. The Security Council is due to meet behind closed doors later on Tuesday.

North Korea’s recent missile tests were a legitimate act of self-defense by a “fully-fledged nuclear power”, North Korean diplomat Ju Yong Chol told the U.N. Conference on Disarmament in Geneva on Tuesday.

“It is the United States’ hostile policy and its aggressive joint military drills, nuclear threats and military build-up around the Korean peninsula that really aggravates the situation on the Korean peninsula and the region and which compels the DPRK to also up its nuclear deterrence,” he said.

DPRK are the initials for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Ju was the only speaker at the forum who did not begin his remarks by offering condolences to Britain for the victims of Monday night’s bomb attack at a concert in Manchester.

The South Korean military did not say if the unidentified object was hit by the warning shots on Tuesday, but it disappeared from military radar.

North Korea has previously sent drones into South Korean airspace, with some crashing. In January 2016, South Korea fired warning shots at a suspected drone which turned back.

U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that a “major, major conflict” with North Korea is possible over its weapons programs, although U.S. officials say tougher sanctions, not military force, are the preferred option to counter the North Korean threat.

(Additional reporting by Michael Martina in Beijing and Tom Miles in Geneva; Editing by Nick Macfie and Jack Kim)

Israel’s ‘flying car’ passenger drone moves closer to delivery

A worker works on a prototype of the Cormorant, a drone, at Urban Aeronautics' workshop in Yavne, Israel

By Elana Ringler

YAVNE, Israel (Reuters) – After 15 years of development, an Israeli tech firm is optimistic it will finally get its 1,500 kg (1.5 tonne) passenger carrying drone off the ground and into the market by 2020.

The Cormorant, billed as a flying car, is capable of transporting 500kg (around half a tonne) of weight and traveling at 185 km (115 miles) per hour. It completed its first automated solo flight over terrain in November. Its total price is estimated at $14 million.

Developers Urban Aeronautics believe the dark green drone, which uses internal rotors rather than helicopter propellers, could evacuate people from hostile environments and/or allow military forces safe access.

“Just imagine a dirty bomb in a city and chemical substance of something else and this vehicle can come in robotically, remotely piloted, come into a street and decontaminate an area,” Urban Aeronautics founder and CEO Rafi Yoeli told Reuters.

Yoeli set up the company, based in a large hanger in Yavne, central Israel, in 2001 to create the drone, which he says is safer than a helicopter as it can fly in between buildings and below power lines without the risk of blade strikes.

There is still plenty of work required before the autonomous vehicle hits the market.

The Cormorant, about the size of a family car and previously called the ‘Air Mule’, is yet to meet all Federal Aviation Administration standards and a test in November saw small issues with conflicting data sent by on board sensors.

With 39 patents registered to create the vehicle, Yoeli has little concern about competitors usurping him.

One industry experts said the technology could save lives.

“It could revolutionize several aspects of warfare, including medical evacuation of soldiers on the battlefield,” said Tal Inbar, head of the UAV research center at Israel’s Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies.

(Writing by Patrick Johnston in LONDON Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)

China returns underwater drone, U.S. condemns “unlawful” seizure

The oceanographic survey ship, USNS Bowditch, is shown September 20, 2002, which deployed an underwater drone seized by a Chinese Navy warship in international waters in South China Sea,

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING, Dec 20 (Reuters) – China has returned a U.S. underwater drone taken by one of its naval vessels in the
disputed South China Sea last week after what it said were friendly talks with the United States, which reiterated its criticism of the “unlawful” seizure.

The taking of the unmanned underwater vehicle in international waters near the Philippines triggered a diplomatic protest and speculation about whether it would strengthen U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s hand as he seeks a tougher line with China.

A Chinese naval ship took the drone, which the Pentagon says uses unclassified, commercially available technology to collect oceanographic data, on Thursday about 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay in the Philippines.

China’s defence ministry said in a brief statement the drone had been given back to the United States on Tuesday.

“After friendly consultations between the Chinese and U.S. sides, the handover work for the U.S. underwater drone was smoothly completed in relevant waters in the South China Sea at midday,” the ministry said.

The defence ministry declined to give more details about the handover when contacted by Reuters.

The Pentagon said the vehicle had been handed over to the guided missile destroyer USS Mustin near where it had been “unlawfully seized”. It called on China to comply with international law and refrain from further efforts to impede lawful U.S. activities.

“The U.S. remains committed to upholding the accepted principles and norms of international law and freedom of navigation and overflight and will continue to fly, sail, and operate in the South China Sea wherever international law allows,” Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying referred questions about the handover and other details of the case to the defence ministry.

“The handling of this incident shows that the Chinese and U.S. militaries have quite smooth communication channels. We think that this communication channel is beneficial to timely communication and the handling of sudden incidents and prevention of miscalculations and misunderstandings,” she said.

“As to what the U.S. defence department said, I have to verify it with the military. But I think what they said is
unreasonable as we have always said that for a long time the U.S. military has regularly sent ships and aircraft to carry out close up surveillance and military surveys in waters facing China, which threatens China’s sovereignty and security,” Hua told reporters.

“China is resolutely opposed to this and has always demanded the U.S. end these kinds of activities. I think this is the cause of this or similar incidents.”

The seizure has added to U.S. concern about China’s growing military presence and aggressive posture in the disputed South China Sea, including its militarization of maritime outposts.

China is deeply suspicious of any U.S. military activity in the resource-rich South China Sea, with state media and experts saying the use of the drone was likely part of U.S. surveillance efforts in the disputed waterway.

The U.S. Navy has about 130 such underwater drones, made by Teledyne Webb, each weighing about 60 kg (130 lb) and able to stay underwater for up to five months. They are used around the world to collect unclassified data about oceans, including temperature and depth.

It is not clear how many are used in the South China Sea.

(Editing by Paul Tait and Lincoln Feast)

China says discussing return of undersea drone with U.S. military

The oceanographic survey ship, USNS Bowditch, is shown September 20, 2002, which deployed an underwater drone seized by a Chinese Navy warship in international waters in South China Sea,

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) – The Chinese and U.S. militaries are having “unimpeded” talks about the return of U.S. underwater drone taken by a Chinese naval vessel in the South China Sea last week, China’s foreign ministry said on Monday.

The drone, known as an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), was taken on Thursday in waters off the coast of the Philippines, the first seizure of its kind in recent memory.

The Pentagon went public with its complaint about the incident and said on Saturday it had secured a deal to get the drone back. China’s defense ministry had earlier accused Washington of hyping up the issue.

“What I can tell you is that at present, China and the United States are using unimpeded military channels to appropriately handle this issue,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to take a more aggressive approach in dealing with China over its economic and military policies, jumped on the unusual seizure with a pair of provocative tweets over the weekend, accusing Beijing of stealing the equipment.

Asked about Trump’s comments, Hua said describing the drone as stolen was “completely incorrect”.

“The key is that China’s navy had a responsible and professional attitude to identify and ascertain this object,” she said. “If you discover or pick something up from the street you have to examine it and if somebody asks you for it you have to work out if it’s theirs before you can give it back.”

The drone, which the Pentagon said was operating lawfully was collecting data about the salinity, temperature and clarity of the water about 50 nautical miles northwest of Subic Bay, off the Philippines.

The Philippines said the occurrence of the incident inside its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) was “very troubling”.

“Not only does it increase the likelihood of miscalculations that could lead to open confrontation very near the Philippine mainland but the commission of activities other than innocent passage which impinge upon the right of the Philippines over the resources in its EEZ are violations of the Philippines rights over its EEZ,” Defence Minister Delfin Lorenzana said in a statement.

DEEP SUSPICIONS

China is deeply suspicious of any U.S. military activities in the resource-rich South China Sea, with state media and experts saying the use of the drone was likely part of U.S. surveillance efforts in the disputed waterway.

The overseas edition of the ruling Communist Party’s People’s Daily said in a commentary on Monday the USNS Bowditch, which was operating the drone, was a “serial offender” when it came to spying operations against China.

“The downplaying of the actions of the drone cannot cover up the real intentions in the background,” it said. “This drone which floated to the surface in the South China Sea is the tip of the iceberg of U.S. military strategy, including toward China.”

The USNS Bowditch is an “infamous” military reconnaissance ship that has been surveying China’s coastal waters since 2002, said Ma Gang, a professor at the People’s Liberation Army National Defence University, told the official China Daily.

“Oceanic data is crucial for ship formations, submarine routes and battle planning,” Ma said. “Therefore, it is normal for the Chinese Navy to be suspicious of Bowditch’s activities given past experience.”

According to Chinese state media, the same ship was involved in incidents in 2001 and 2002 when it was shadowed by Chinese navy ships while operating in the Yellow Sea. Chinese media say it has also operated in the sensitive Taiwan Straits.

Ni Lexiong, a naval expert, Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, told Reuters he believed the Chinese navy probably had orders to take the drone.

But Ni said this is a very different incident from the 2001 intercept of a U.S. spy plane by a Chinese fighter jet that resulted in a collision that killed the Chinese pilot and forced the American plane to make an emergency landing at a base on Hainan.

“This is a much smaller incident, it won’t affect the overall picture of China-U.S. relations,” he said, adding that he did not expect China to seek an apology from the U.S.

The 24 U.S. air crew members were held for 11 days before being released, souring U.S.-Chinese relations in the early days of President George W. Bush’s first administration.

(Additional reporting by Manuel Mogato in Manila; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

U.S. strike kills Islamic State militants linked to Paris attacks

A man pays his respects during a gathering at the Place de la Republique in Paris, France, November 13, 2016, after ceremonies held for the victims of last year's Paris attacks which targeted the Bataclan concert hall as well as a series of bars and killed 130 people.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. drone strike in Syria last week killed two Islamic State leaders linked to the Nov. 13, 2015 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people as well as a third militant convicted in absentia in Belgium for a disrupted plot, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

The U.S. military said the strike took place on Dec. 4 in Raqqa, the Islamic State’s defacto capital in Syria.

“They were working together to plot and facilitate attacks on Western targets at the time of the strike,” Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters.

The Pentagon named two of the militants as Salah Gourmat and Sammy Djedou and said both men were involved with facilitating the 2015 machinegun and suicide bomb attacks on the Bataclan music hall, Paris bars and restaurants, and the Stade de France soccer stadium.

The third man killed, Walid Hamman, was a suicide attack planner and French national who was convicted in absentia in Belgium for a plot disrupted in 2015, Davis told reporters.

The three men were killed when a drone aircraft fired on them as they were driving in a car together, Davis said.

Islamic State, which has controlled parts of Iraq and Syria in recent years, has lost territory this year to local forces in those countries supported by a U.S.-led coalition of air strikes and advisers. Islamic State sympathizers around the world have carried out other shootings and bombings of civilians.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Will Dunham)

U.S. Drone enters Iran’s airspace, leaves after warning

A model of a military drone is seen in front of an U.S. flag as protesters rally against climate change, ahead of the Democratic National Convention, in Philadelphia

ANKARA (Reuters) – Iran’s military detected a U.S. drone entering Iranian airspace on Monday and issued a warning for it to leave, which it subsequently did, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported.

“Iran’s army air defense detected and warned an American drone in the eastern airspace of the country. It was coming from Afghanistan. The drone left the area,” Tasnim quoted the Iranian military as saying.

Tasnim gave no details on how the Iranian authorities had warned the unmanned drone to leave its airspace.

A U.S. defense official said last week that four of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vessels ‘harassed’ a U.S. warship on Tuesday near the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran said the ships had only been carrying out their regular duties monitoring foreign ships near Iranian waters.

(Reporting by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by William Maclean and Toby Chopra)

Turkey Officials State Downed Drone is Russian

According to the Turkish military, a drone shot down by Turkish warplanes in Turkish air space near Syria on Friday was Russian-made.  Moscow insists however, that the unmanned aircraft did not belong to Russia and that their drones are all accounted for.   

The drone was downed after it continued on its flight path despite three warnings, the Turkish military said. Earlier this month, Russian jets violated Turkish airspace on two occasions.  Russia’s military said it will continue to deploy drones over Syria “I would . . . like to emphasize that Russian drones are continuing to monitor the situation in Syria’s skies,” spokesman Igor Konashenkov said, AFP reported.

In a live televised interview,  Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the drone may have belonged to the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Kurdish PYD militia, or other forces.

According to Reuters, he said that his country will not hesitate to shoot down planes violating its airspace.   

“We downed a drone yesterday. If it was a plane we’d do the same. Our rules of engagement are known. Whoever violates our borders, we will give them the necessary answer,” Davutoglu told a rally of his ruling AK Party.

Top Cleric of Yemen’s Al-Qaeda Branch Killed

A terrorist leader with a $5 million bounty on his head has been killed in Yemen.

Yemen’s Al-Qaeda branch posted a statement saying that Ibrahim al-Rubaish was killed along with other terrorists in a Sunday night drone strike.  The statement did not say where the strike that killed the terrorist leader took place.

Al-Rubaish once was imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay but had been released in 2006.  He joined Al-Qaeda’s Yemeni branch and was considered the main theological advisor to the group.  His writings and sermons were among the most viewed in terrorist publications.

If the drone attack is verified, it will be the first drone strike since the country devolved into war when Islamic terrorists backed by Iran advanced into the nation.  Saudi Arabia has been leading a coalition of airstrikes against the terrorist’s advances.

Al-Qaeda is a rival of the advancing terrorist group and has launched their own assaults to stop the advanced of the Iranian-backed group.  U.S. intelligence sources say that as Al-Qaeda is forced to focus on stopping the terrorist advance, they have less resources and time to plot against Western interests in the region.