We want weaponised urban drones flying through your house, says UK defence ministry as it waves a fistful of banknotes

The UK's Ministry of Defence has £900,000 for any companies willing to supply it with weaponised drones capable of flitting around “urban environments” and even poking their electronic noses inside shopping centres and private houses. Positioned as three "challenges" for industry to overcome, the MoD hopes to attract drone …

[Antron Argaiv]

Dystopian future

I have a mental image (probably from some film I saw) of the protagonist in his dingy apartment, turning towards the (un-curtained) window and seeing a black drone hovering outside, with its camera aimed at him.

We're too close to this already, I don't think I'd be willing to help speed its arrival for 150k

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Dystopian future

I'm sure the people at the MoD are having wet dreams about a dragonfly-like drone that can kill someone with a poison dart like the hunter-seeker from Dune. It's only a matter of time.

[chivo243]

Re: Dystopian future

Check out Salvation on netflix... they just used one to kill the president?

[IGotOut]

Re: Dystopian future

The president is dead? Wahooo...oh I mean "my thoughts and prayers etc. etc."

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Dystopian future

He's not dead, he's just moved on to developing exclusive resort communities and exciting residential real estate properties in the afterlife!

[Someone Else]

@IGotOut -- Re: Dystopian future

Icon says it all - - - ->

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Dystopian future

>people at the MoD are having wet dreams

Imagine a cheap $100 drone programmed to sit in sleep mode for weeks/months, programmed to take off look for blue/green/brown uniform or a helmet and aim for the face - where it short circuits its lithium battery or detonates a shot-gun shell of powder. All of which can be bought, imported, assembled by anyone with no suspicious or restricted materials.

Is this likely to be used by or against an official army with a mutli $Bn defence budget fighting against insurgents in an urban environment ?

[Jonathon Green]

Oooooh! I think know the answer to this one, is it...

“Is this likely to be used by or against an official army with a mutli $Bn defence budget fighting against insurgents in an urban environment ?”

Yes.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Oooooh! I think know the answer to this one, is it...

It does seem a little like the government saying "shipping army explosives to Iraq is expensive, here is a grant to come up with a way of making explosive using only items readily available in a Middle Eastern supermarket"

[Rich 11]

Re: Oooooh! I think know the answer to this one, is it...

come up with a way of making explosive using only items readily available in a Middle Eastern supermarket

In the markets of Peshawar these items are commonly known as 'explosives'. You can find them on the shelves just behind the gun racks.

[martinusher]

Re: Dystopian future

>Imagine a cheap $100 drone

Oh dear. For that kind of money you'll need to either import the unit from China or assemble from Chinese components. That's not going to go down well at the Ministry.

[big_D]

Re: Dystopian future

Ah, you've read Kill Decision then...

[NoneSuch]

Re: Dystopian future

Some bloke tried to demo his system at Gatwick. It wasn't received well.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Dystopian future

>Some bloke tried to demo his system at Gatwick. It wasn't received well.

I don't know, an invisible to police drone that can be at targets 30mi apart at the same time seems pretty effective as a weapon

[RegGuy1]

Re: Dystopian future

Novichock. Then you won't need those pesky perfume bottles.

Just load that bank of drones, launch the mother ship, and...

[Flywheel]

Re: Dystopian future

If it's awarded to Crapita (and why wouldn't it?) you can look forward to a 0.5Kg robotic gnat that flies in random directions. Guidance and weapons to come in Phase 2, obvs.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I don't think I'd be willing to help speed its arrival for 150k

don't worry, there'll be PLENTY of those scrambling to participate. After all, the race is on, and it's only going in one direction. After all, you don't want our streets to be invaded by RUSSIAN!!! or CHINESE!!! drones killing our children and we-can't-do-anything-about-it, DO YOU!?

And, says the PM, with his usual bright smile and brisk voice, I'm ABSOLUTELY positive that this weapon capability will render all, practically all other weapons useless, and so that we can live in everlasting peace and prosperity at last!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I don't think I'd be willing to help speed its arrival for 150k

Yeah, but with or without drones we will still be living with the Brexit shit around our necks.

So a drone may not kil you, but those at the very bottom are going to struggle even more.

Brexit, brought to you by those old white racists that want us to bring back 1955.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I don't think I'd be willing to help speed its arrival for 150k

@A/C

Help me out please.How did the topic of weaponised drones get turned into a Brexit thing?

Just saying

Cheers… Ishy

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I don't think I'd be willing to help speed its arrival for 150k

Really? As plenty of non whites voted for Brexit, particularly those from SE Asia who were promised unlimited immigration to bring in staff from India etc....

Going back to 1955 (or earlier) morally isn't just restricted to elderly white men, its also something beloved by many UK feminists, who love the idea of a feminist led Jane Austen type society

[Hollerithevo]

Re: I don't think I'd be willing to help speed its arrival for 150k

Anon, are you all right? What on earth is a 'feminist-led Jane Austen type society'? Women as CEOs, but with Empire waistlines?

[Ian Mason]

Re: ... but with Empire waistlines?

And heaving bosoms. Please. Pretty please.

[quxinot]

Re: ... but with Empire waistlines?

Okay, that's got us Brexit, race, and sex.

Someone mention Trump so that I can yell "Bingo!" and walk out.

[Rich 11]

Re: ... but with Empire waistlines?

Trump.

[Citizen99]

Re: ... but with Empire waistlines?

Eye thenk yew

[TDog]

Re: I don't think I'd be willing to help speed its arrival for 150k

Joan Hunter Dunn and John Betjeman in that order.

[Uncle Slacky]

Re: I don't think I'd be willing to help speed its arrival for 150k

"Mr President, we must not allow a drone gap!"

[Flocke Kroes]

Re: Dystopian future

You may have been thinking of Dark Angel. Although the TV series almost pre-dates mobile phones (they appear in series 2) it has aged well.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Dystopian future

Hardly.

By 2000 I'd already worked my way through 2 Panasonic GSM handsets (a J and a G series) and a Nokia 6110 and was then on my 1st Triband phone that also worked Stateside. ( A Motorola Timeport.)

[big_D]

Re: Dystopian future

I had my first mobile phone 8 years before Dark Angel came out.

Heck, the X-Files used mobile phones extensively!

[big_D]

Re: Dystopian future

We don't need a dystopian future, we moved to Dystopia a few years back, but nobody noticed until it was too late.

As an aside, have a look at Daniel Suarez "Kill Decision", an excellent novel about a dystopian near future, where AI controlled drones are used to escalate tensions between the Middle East and the USA.

[Arthur the cat]

Perfectly safe

<pollyanna-voice>Weaponised drones in a civilian environment. I'm sure that will never, ever go wrong.</pollyanna-voice>

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Perfectly safe

I'm sure this tech will never end up in the hands of drug gangs and organized crime either.

[DS999]

Re: Perfectly safe

Whether or not this gets built, it is only a matter of time before a drug gang buys a drone, packs it with as much high explosive as it can carry, flies it over the villa or vehicle of a rival drug lord, and detonates it.

[Someone Else]

Re: Perfectly safe

<pollyanna-voice>Weaponised drones in a civilian environment. I'm sure that will never, ever go wrong go wrong go wrong go wrong wrong wrong go.</pollyanna-voice>

[ITS Retired]

Why does new technology always seems to be developed for death and destruction?

Have we run out of peaceful uses for it already?

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Why does new technology always seems to be developed for death and destruction?

Once all the porn uses have been exhausted

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Once all the porn uses have been exhausted

There are porn-drones!?

Mind you, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised [see #34]

-

:-)

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Why does new technology always seems to be developed for death and destruction?

Porn with a drone. On ice. Also availabe on bbc iplayer.

[Anonymous Coward]

So... free guns!!??!

As an American, I love free guns! As soon as a winner is decided, I finally know who I can contract out my EMP project to!

Go whitey!

[Someone Else]

Re: So... free guns!!??!

OK, so this may have been sarcasm. If it was, it's just not funny. If it is not, you're Donald tRump, and I claim my $5.

[Doctor Syntax]

Why do these military procurement stories remind me of Feynman's story of going to some reception or other and talking to an armny bod who waid they just wanted the scientists to come up with a way of using sand as tank fuel?

[Rich 11]

Tank fuel? Sure. Just capture the heat generated by feeding the tank's supply of sand into a vat of hydrofluoric acid.

[Steve Davies 3]

In other news...

Sales on Cricket Bats and Louisiana Sluggers and drone signal jammers have increased by 100%.

Drones are a General/Wing Commander's wet dream but... they aren't the solution for everything.

[Cynic_999]

Re: In other news...

Drones don't need to be controlled remotely, so jammers are no use. Just give it the target coordinates and let it navigate itself around buildings etc. It is not significantly more complex than a car's GPS.

[Outer mongolian custard monster from outer space (honest)]

Re: In other news...

Says someone who's never had to knock their drone flying a "clear" gps map path out of a tree with a stick.

[Cynic_999]

Re: In other news...

No, never. But then I take trees into account when I plan the flight. Just as I would take overhead cables and bridges etc. into account if planning a route along an urban street. The fact remains that it can be easily done without any need for real-time remote control.

[Anonymous Coward]

Dominic Cummings will be rubbing his hands in glee

So much cheaper than redundancy payments for senior civil servants

[Hollerithevo]

Re: Dominic Cummings will be rubbing his hands in glee

These little devices can also take out those pregnant women who decide to have a very small glass of wine.

[amanfromMars 1]

Reading between the lines ..... but don't forget to remember, pay peanuts, get monkeys

If they want clean skin 00 agents with a whole range of future smarts, why doesn't the MOD just advertise for them normally like everyone else does?

[Ken 16]

Can they shoot hypodermic darts?

Maybe they could be funded by operation Moonshot, if they can aim a vaccine shot at the person mooning them?

[Alister]

So, when are DJI going to put in their bid?

[Ian Mason]

Sorry, a £150k?

£150k isn't going to buy you a development programme for anything even 1/10th the complexity of what they are asking for. That might pay for one engineer's time for a year, a bench for him to work on, and a few parts with a little bit of profit left over to make it worth doing. What it won't do is produce any worthwhile deliverables.

It's so ridiculously low a budget that this must be a boondongle that's being set up for someone they've already got in the frame for it?

[Boris the Cockroach]

I bet

BAE systems put a bid in... although it will explain how their drones are the best drones ever, made from the finest stuff possible and cheap at the price of 12 billion pounds each.(and take 25 yrs and another 25 billion from start to deploying 1 drone)

Anyway.... we all know how this ends once 1000s of drones are on the loose

"The system became self-aware at 2.37 PDT"......

[vogon00]

Re: I bet

And I bet it never happens. I'm currently enjoying a bottle of Pinotage, which may account for my inability to see how a presumably small, and therefore low mass, flying vehicle could be provided with sufficient stabilisation to overcome the recoil forces produced by any traditional 'weapon', even of the less-lethal Taser for example. I suppose simply dropping a 'flash-bang' without any recoil may be an option, but that doesn't sound like the level of 'weaponised' they are looking for.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I bet

Rocket bullets!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJAXpyt8-oQ

[PhilipN]

21st Century equivalent of nosy neighbours

Those who have never lived in an English village will not understand the point.

[skeptical i]

safer no-knock warrants

So these will reduce the number of "sorry, wrong address" deaths and injuries caused by cops using no-knock warrants? Say what one will about police tactics, at least the cops at the door have fear for their own personal safety. Given how military tech finds its way to municipal police forces, I don't see this ending well.

[Anonymous Coward]

Didn't Isis already use this 5 years ago in Syria? Drone plus grenade plus camera so the human operator could guide it.

[Conundrum1885]

Re. 900M

Is this open to private individuals?

I can't legally start a company here but R&D is certainly possible.

Have a few ideas and in fact could integrate my current lines of research.

Making it carry weapons would be a secondary issue, more useful would be covert

ops and other such "Fun Stuff" (tm) using Yehudi lights and other methods.

Thanks to advances in memory and CPU its feasible to make it very smart indeed

even without using expen$ive custom ICs.

[neurofaux]

someone get DedSec on the phone...

[cantankerous swineherd]

a shotgun should take one of those out?