Another day, another drone upstart skips the consumer market

A Latvian drone firm taking a punt at both the professional and military markets reckons its new model can stay aloft for five hours and fly for almost 100 miles (160km). Atlas Dynamics, a Riga-based upstart founded two years ago, says its Blue-J drone is "ideally suited for large-scale security and inspection missions" and …

[Anonymous Coward]

Has this hit the 'Mail' yet?

'Steath Latvian drones set to swarm across English Channel'

[John Smith 19]

"'Steath Latvian drones set to swarm across English Channel'"

It's the stealthy Latvians on board that's got them really scared. *

*Yeah, right. Weighs 11Kg and can carry a 9Kg load. I don't think so. If those numbers are real that will be without a significant fuel load on board.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "'Steath Latvian drones set to swarm across English Channel'"

Not quite sure where your performance doubts are coming from? 30 seconds Googling found an established drone company selling off the shelf aircraft that weigh 10 kg and can carry 10 kgs of fuel/payload. They state that it uses .75 l/hour of fuel, so 5 hours might need 4 kg of fuel. What is unreasonable in thinking that a company might be able to engineer a drone to carry a 14kg payload, maybe by flying slower, or using lighter material or a lighter engine?

[Simon Rockman]

It'll need to be heavily autonomous

Being invisible to radar is pointless if it's squawking it's location.

[WraithCadmus]

Payload of 9kg...

What is that in sacks of potatoes? Except there are no potatoes, and politburo has taken sacks, such is life.

[Fink-Nottle]

Re: Payload of 9kg...

is ideal for your dachshund transportation needs.

[ukgnome]

Re: Payload of 9kg...

That's 1.0345 Adult badger - quite a vicious payload.

[heyrick]

Re: Payload of 9kg...

Or for carrying two cats. Economy!

[handleoclast]

My concentration is wandering

Which is why I read the headline as containing "drone upskirt." And thought "that sounds like an excellent idea. I wonder if the article has any pics."

Time to watch some more cat videos, I think.

[herman]

Another day, another toy. Real stabilised HD camera systems weigh 25 to 45 kg and need 500 Watt of electricity.

Instead of trying to look at something with a blurry toy camera, the military can just send a guy to go and sit on a hill with a pair of binoculars. Therefore, to be useful, a UAV needs to be significantly better than a guy with binoculars or a small telescope, otherwise it is pointless.

[Anonymous Coward]

Another day another expert.

In this particular case...Good luck seeing detail at 60 kilometres (or 10) with your binoculars What if you don't want to look at optical wavelengths? Maybe you want to sneak up and listen to a wifi signal. What if you want to look at something and the ground is flat? What if the bad guy (or zebra, or hole in a pipeline) decides to stand on the other side of a brick wall? And when the bad guy decides he doesn't want to be looked at and lobs a large rock at the camera, you only have to get another one off the shelf, you don't have to write a telegram to it's next of kin.

Have you even bothered to look at the quality of imagery that even modest consumer grade drones can acquire now?

[EnviableOne]

could get a pretty good video by gaffering a phone to it

[Anonymous Coward]

Range seems awfully low given a 5 hour flight time - the figures must be incorrect.