Historical imagery suggests that the deployment took place at some point between mid-October and mid-November 2016. The market is expected to grow annually by 12.9% (CAGR 2021-2025). No drones or supporting equipment are visible in earlier satellite images of the base, suggesting that this drone may have arrived at Alam Air Base sometime in late November. In the image, which is accessible at TerraServer, the aircraft is parked outside a hangar near the center of the base. Satellite imagery shows that the Thales deployment is located on the western end of the airport, where a group of concrete aprons and taxiways have recently been refurbished. We regret the error. Although the UAE purchased the Predator XP drones in 2013, General Atomics only completed delivery of the systems in February 2017. In addition to the drone hangars, communications equipment and ground control stations for launching the drones have been set up adjacent to the aprons. Sharurah Regional Airport is a mixed civil-military facility. According to the. Currently, the main areas of the base are individually bounded by walls and a road is patrolled by security vehicles, but the base as a whole lacks a protective boundary. It is unclear whether any of the footage is from tests that took place in the “mountainous” country. A large aircraft apron and terminal are also under construction on the northeastern end of the airfield, potentially for civilian use. Two types of drones could potentially be deployed to Ningbo. The Predator XP drone is parked outside a hangar in the northeast corner of the base and the two CH-4 drones are parked west of the main runway. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. The village had been a fortified granary. This would not be the first time that a Wing Loong prototype has been sent to Mianwali; a drone that. This dynamic post will provide regular updates regarding the deployment of drones in military operations as new developments occur and as new information becomes available. Lingshui airbase is one of several bases belonging to the PLAN South Sea Fleet on Hainan Island, which abuts the South China Sea. DJI premier authorized sales & service center based in NYC. The drone can be seen parked outside a newly-constructed aircraft hangar near the eastern end of the base. The runway has been paved and two large new hangars, as well as several administrative buildings, have been added. BEER-SHEVA, Israel…July 8, 2020 – Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have determined how to pinpoint the location of a drone operator who may be operating maliciously or harmfully near airports or protected airspace by analyzing the flight path of the drone. The video, which was featured in our August update of CH-4s at China’s Zhongwei airport, is a mashup of footage taken at multiple airports. ENFIN ! Drone operations at Daishan are likely to resume after the construction is completed. —known domestically as GJ-1—within China. China reportedly operate the CH-4, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Egypt. The drone in the image appears to be a Wing Loong I. during exercises in the east Philippine Sea. In early November, photos circulated on social media purporting to show an Egyptian Wing Loong in a large hangar, though it has not been confirmed whether this was at Bir Gifgafa. The July 1 image shows a construction vehicle working on what will eventually be a 7,720-meter-long perimeter boundary surrounding the base. Thank you. The images, which are available on Google Earth and TerraServer, reveal that the drone has been deployed to Lingshui since at least late 2015. The drone deployment to Uthman likely reflects Egypt’s push to secure its 1,000-mile-long border with Libya against smugglers and militants. The imagery shows an aging runway that lacks defining threshold, designation, or centerline markings. The Wing Loong deployment to the Sinai and reconstruction of Bir Gifgafa are in line with a growing Egyptian military presence on the peninsula. Ningbo is home to, , the oldest of China’s three main maritime commands. This suggests that the U.S. drone deployment in Tunisia is at Sidi Ahmed. Buy Robots & Drones on the Tindie marketplace. The image shows that the Saudi military has repaved and expanded the aircraft apron where the Wing Loong drones are parked. Currently, the main areas of the base are individually bounded by walls and a road is patrolled by security vehicles, but the base as a whole lacks a protective boundary. In 2015, the armed forces, , a mid-sized strike-capable drone closely based on China’s CASC CH-3A. Hubsan X4 H107D 5.8Ghz. drone near its borders on August 26, the latest incident in a string of tit-for-tat interactions featuring Iranian and U.S. drones. With a wingspan of around 7.5 meters, the drones in the satellite images matches the characteristics of the ASN-209. Both ASN-209s and BZK-005s have been based at an ex-reserve PLAN airfield on Daishan Island. Whether or not Aksu proves to be a temporary deployment, Chinese drones will remain a fixture in Xinjiang. Satellite images available on Google Earth and TerraServer indicate that other airbases in Western Egypt—Misheifa, Habata, and Sidi Barrani—have received similar upgrades to those at Uthman, though apparently without the addition of new Chinese-made drones. A large hangar approximately 57-meters-wide and 70-meters-long—the only completed structure at the airfield— is located nearby. Huh, first time i saw this thing i wondered if it was not a launch ramp! The satellite image shows a walled staging area for construction vehicles near the entrance to the airfield. The launch-and-recovery element has been established on a newly-paved apron adjoining three permanent aircraft hangars. The Boiling Lake is so called because of the greenish-blue bubbles which emanate from it. Although the acquisition of the CH-4 has not been confirmed by Jordan, the reports in Chinese media of the CH-4 sale, the infrastructure upgrades at Zarqa, and the continued presence of the CH-4 from July to October suggests that Jordan is indeed the latest country in the Middle East to purchase armed Chinese drones. It includes a satellite communications dish and a ground control station. Historical imagery suggests that the deployment took place at some point between mid-October and mid-November 2016. It is not clear based on the images alone why the drones have been deployed to Aksu. A satellite image from October 3, 2016 shows a Chinese-made CH-4 Rainbow surveillance and strike drone at Zarqa Airport in Jordan. Several construction projects are either underway or have been recently completed. Famously, the Tataouine area was the filming location for "Tatooine", the fictional planet of the Star Wars series. The most recent image, dated January 29, 2017 and accessible on Google Earth, shows a pair of satellite communications and ground control stations used to control the BZK-005 situated near the main runway at Lingshui. In June, the U.S. shot down two Iranian-made Shahed-129 strike-capable drones in Syria. The synthetic aperture radar (SAR), an inverse SAR (ISAR) and a ground moving target indicator radar onboard the UAV are used to detect, identify and track stationary or moving ground targets. Software developed by Turkeys MilSOFT company coupled with Artificial Intelligence (AI) will enable the military to link upto 50 drones in a swarm. Additional images accessible on TerraServer place ASN-209 drones at Ningbo until December 2013. A DigitalGlobe image from May 7, 2016 (accessed via Google Earth) shows the construction of three hangars to support the three Hermes 900 aircraft. Thanks a lot for this site. Reports that Saudi Arabia planned to acquire Wing Loong drones go back, . Construction at Uthman Airbase has been underway since sometime in 2016, likely in order to accommodate the new drones and personnel. The Wall Street Journal reported in July 2015 that the U.S. was looking for a drone base in a North African country to supplement the drones that already based at Sigonella, Sicily. This website requires Javascript to be enabled. The UAE recently acquired the Wing Loong I’s successor, the Wing Loong II. According to the Post, which did not reveal the location of the U.S. drone operations, the unarmed drones fly surveillance missions over ISIL strongholds along the Libyan coast. China’s initial drone deployment to Kashgar in 2014 was reportedly in response to regional unrest. Zarqa Airport as it appears in the October 3 satellite image corresponds to footage from a July 2016 video showing the CH-4 undergoing tests at an undisclosed airport. The phenomenon known as “singing” or “booming” sand is known to occur in only 35 locations around the world. The January 27 image of Lingshui shows that the air base is undergoing considerable reconstruction. In a June 25, 2015. to Rep. Charles W. Dent, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Military Construction, Committee on Appropriations, DoD comptroller Michael McCord determined that the $7.6 million project to build the wall was necessary to meet DoD requirements for physical security. A July 2015 satellite image of Jazan Regional Airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia appeared to, deployed there for operations over Yemen. The deal was finalized after two-year negotiations that includes value of the contract and training process. The U.S. has deployed Predators and Reaper drones to Niamey, Niger beginning in 2013 and is building a new drone base in Agadez, a city in northern Niger. The finished construction brings the total number of hangars currently in use to 12. budget, the Air Force has proposed spending $6.9 million on paving the parking aprons and taxiways with asphalt or concrete. The absence of new hangars suggests that the deployment could be temporary, although reports in Chinese media on have suggested that construction of a large, $107 million expansion of the civilian portion of the airport is underway. American Navy commanders have said that they will shoot down any Iranian drones that endanger U.S. forces and Iran has vowed that it will continue drone patrols in the Gulf. Sweden, Germany, France, and the U.S operate drones over Mali. Specific conditions such as heat, humidity, granular shape of the sand, and angle of incline have to be met for the sand to produce this low humming rumble as it cascades down the slip-face of these crescent shaped Barchan dunes. Bir Gifgafa was only permitted to receive Egyptian transport aircraft, and was largely abandoned. Multiple satellite images from February 2017 confirm that Egypt has deployed Wing Loong drones to an airbase on the border with Libya. AH-60 Apache attack helicopters and UH-60 Black Hawks are. The image shows two Wing Loong aircraft parked on an apron in the center of Bir Gifgafa. However, India has both a, drone industry and a growing number of military drones, . The Searcher, a tactical reconnaissance drone, is flown by the both the Indian Navy and Air Force. In contrast to Pakistan, where the number of drone strikes has plummeted, U.S. drone operations in Yemen and Somalia—which are likely staged from Chabelley—have remained relatively steady, according to data compiled by the New America Foundation. The Jizan image underscores both the rapid turnaround from delivery to deployment for these drones and the proliferation of more capable strike-capable drones. Additional aircraft parking aprons have been added on both ends of the taxiway. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has already acquired the Wing Loong 1, which is smaller and less capable than the Wing Loong 2 and Caihong 5, although it’s not known that the aircraft at Aksu belong to the PLAAF. to support the campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Predator XP and Caihong-4 are larger and more capable systems than the Wing Loong I. The new threshold and boundary markings suggest that it could potentially serve as an auxiliary runway to accommodate the extra traffic. It was first, unveiled at the 2006 Zhuhai International Airshow. The 2015 annual report of the UN’s Aviation Safety Section, Department of Field Support stated that there 21 military unmanned systems with MINUSMA, although it did not specify the type of aircraft. The UN built a designated runway for the Shadow just south of Camp Noble, the UN base at Timbuktu Airport. The image, which was accessed on Google Earth, shows three Chinese-made CAIG Wing Loong (also known as Pterodactyl) medium-altitude long-endurance surveillance and strike drones. The CH-4 Rainbow is a Chinese-made medium-altitude long-endurance surveillance and strike drone. Please see our September 2019 publication, The Drone Databook, for more detailed and up-to-date information on these topics. A satellite image from October 7, 2016 appears to show the previously undisclosed location of U.S. surveillance drones in Tunisia: Sidi Ahmed-Bizerte Air Base in the northwest of the country. According to military. Sidi Ahmed Air Base is already a restricted facility, and the base is large enough to accommodate the U.S. troops and aircraft. A September 13 article in Xinjiang News reported that the renovation, one of several planned for airports in Xinjiang province this year, will include new parallel taxiways, 10 aircraft aprons, and a new terminal building for commercial traffic. … In neighboring Niger, France has, drones since 2013 mainly for operations over Mali. According to the, , around 70 personnel have been deployed to support the drone mission in Tunisia. The November 2016 image shows that Bir Gifgafa is undergoing significant reconstruction. Turkey's Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) Chairperson Ismail... Russia to Demo Anti-drone Repellent-Patrol EW system at IDEX 2021, U.S., Israel to Jointly Develop Arrow 4 Missile Interceptor System, Upgraded Turkish ATAK Helicopters Deliveries Commence, India’s Advanced Light Helicopter Fires Helina, Dhruvastra Missile Systems. It has deployed a small fleet of Falco mid-sized surveillance drones, which is. Other nations besides the United States have also deployed drones to Chabelley: between September 2014 and February 2015, the Italian Air Force deployed MQ-1 Predator drones to Chabelley to, The satellite image from July 1, 2016 shows that a. aircraft aprons and hangars has been completed. The Predator XP and the CH-4 drones are both relatively new acquisitions for Saudi Arabia and the UAE. with Italian defense firm Leonardo, to PAF Mushaf, an air base around 115 kilometers southeast of PAF Mianwali. At Bhatinda, south of Kashmir in Punjab province, a Heron drone is pictured in an image from May 25, 2016. Dedrone has announced it can now enable its customers to leverage both US and EU government-provided drone remote identification standards, commonly known as Remote ID, to identify drones. It’s approximately the same distance to the Libyan border from Sidi Ahmed as it is from Sigonella. I look forward to following this website for updates on PLA and Iranian drone production and acquisition programs. The charges stemmed from Paquette’s tenure as commanding officer of the 722nd Expeditionary Air Base Squadron at Sidi Ahmed Air Base in Tunisia. Following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Sinai and Camp David Accords in 1978, the Sinai was divided into three zones, and Egypt was barred from deploying substantial military forces to most of the region. The CH-4 is a medium-altitude long-endurance drone made by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Unlike the military drones that are already operating in Mali, the Thales drones will be used to provide aerial surveillance for civilian operations such as humanitarian convoys. It was a primary filming location for the original Star Wars film (1977, now called Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) and Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999). The FY17 budget proposal includes $3.6 million to pave the 3.4 mile gravel access road between Camp Lemonnier, the much larger U.S. military base that adjoins Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport, and Chabelley Airfield. A second image, this one from December 2012, shows another ASN-209 being towed from the runway. The the ASN-209 Silver Hawk is a medium-range tactical reconnaissance drone that the Chinese Navy has used since at least 2011. The drone activity in Xinjiang province in the past year could be related to China’s security measures in the province, which have become the subject of growing international attention. Since then, India has made additional purchases of drones from Israel and has looked to invest more in its own drone manufacturers. Zarqa Airport as it appears in the October 3 satellite image corresponds to footage from, showing the CH-4 undergoing tests at an undisclosed airport. The Boeing Insitu ScanEagle is a small, long-endurance, low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) built by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing, and is used for reconnaissance.