back to article Attack of the dinky drones! US military creates ROBOTIC CARRIER PIGEON

A tiny drone that can apparently fit in the palm of your hand has been developed by U.S. military boffins. According to the AFP, the "micro air vehicle" – which was named after the cicada insect – is a bit like a mobile handset with wings. A prototype of the dinky drone cost a few thousand dollars to make but the Naval …

  1. yoganmahew

    Toner...

    Neal Stephenson, eat your heart out... or, perhaps, weep...

  2. Mage Silver badge
    Black Helicopters

    Obligatory XKCD

  3. PNGuinn
    FAIL

    "You tell them where to go, and they will go there"

    ER - no - I don't think that's how a carrier pigeon works.

    You take 'em somewhere, release 'em and - hopefully - they'll find their way home.

    RTFRFC.

    1. Trigonoceps occipitalis

      Re: "You tell them where to go, and they will go there"

      They will indeed fly "home". This can be an order of magnitude bigger that 11km away. You do have to let them live at home for a while or they may bugger off to their last loft. Pigeons do have a good record in getting home, just ask any fancier.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "You tell them where to go, and they will go there"

        > Pigeons do have a good record in getting home

        just ask Dick Dastardly and Muttley.

  4. W Donelson

    "...the price tag could fall to as low as $250...."

    Actual parts cost: $6

    Like the $500 hammer.

    1. Natalie0000

      I think we could make it cheaper by dumping rocks with microchips from drones and accomplish more at the same time. Those that don't yield intelligence will at least send a clear message, your mobile tents are insufficient to protect your heads. Better invest in helmets and more solid structures which are easier for us to trace and harder for you to move, not to mention expensive. We could call it the Hailstorm 250 and charge 100 bucks per rock. Maybe we'll get lucky and it will bop some of them hard enough they forget why they are there and go home.

  5. Frumious Bandersnatch

    PASSENGER PIGEONS!?

    Passenger pigeon's been extinct since 1914!

    Oh, you said "carrier". As you were ...

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How does a desert shrub kill a gliding device? Has DARPA invented surface to to air shubbery? Autonomous heat seeking tumbleweed? for deployment in Iraq, I think we should be told.

    1. Sam 15

      (Air)Ships of the Desert

      Disinformation innit.

      All those who fear the drones will nip off sharpish to the nearest desert where they will stand out like a thing which stands out as an easy target.

      The real enemy of these drones is Wisteria.

    2. skeptical i
      Devil

      Don't go hiking in the desert much, do you?

      If the saguaros don't getcha -- http://archive.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/20100407clay0408.html -- the jumping cholla likely will.

    3. Pedigree-Pete
      Coat

      Knights....

      am I the only one who thinks we should be looking out for the Knights that say Ni. IIRC they has a bit of a thing for shubbery.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Finally…

    The demand of the "Knights who say 'Ni!'" for a shrubbery makes sense!

  8. Faceless Man

    Knife Missiles?

    Iain M. Banks would be proud. Or possibly not.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It's a glider, apparently supposed to do it's observing after it's on the ground. It's not coming home.

  10. Graham Marsden
    Happy

    Can I just say...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj6-LG5VpGk

    Hmm, Vulture Squadron...

  11. Kharkov
    Joke

    The Entire World will become Monty Python Fans!

    Yes, the Pythonista's secret plan is revealed!

    Soldiers (or Knights) the whole world over will shout, "We want... A SHRUBBERY!"

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Linux

    Robotic pigeons?

    We're going to defeat ISIS by fouling their public spaces and spreading the occasional avian disease!

  13. x 7

    Can robotic pigeons crap on your head like the real birdies do? What a way to deposit a payload!

  14. Martin Budden Silver badge
    Black Helicopters

    IP over Avian Carriers

    Real life implementations of RFC 1149 / RFC 2549 / RFC 6214 have proved that small flying things carrying memory cards can provide faster data transfer rates than broadband internet.

    Icon: probably actual size in a few years from now!

    1. Anonymous Custard

      Re: IP over Avian Carriers

      I was thinking something similar - this could be the modern miltary update of the well-known but often underestimated mythological transfer rate of a car with a boot full of hard drives or similar media...

      1. Martin Budden Silver badge

        Re: IP over Avian Carriers

        It's not mythical, it's standard industry practise. Google does it: http://royal.pingdom.com/2007/04/11/fedex-still-faster-than-the-internet/.

        "Ah but that was eight years ago" I hear you say. Good point: has the internet overtaken a van full of disks since then? If not, will it ever? These questions have been answered as only xkcd can: https://what-if.xkcd.com/31/.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    And the point?

    If they have a lethal payload it'll be a more expensive version of cluster bombs, or the repeat of a seriously bad idea where bombs were dressed up as something cute like dolls so kids would get killed. If used for intelligence, it will simply ensure a surge in the use of jammers, not to mention the fact that they will be adding more hay instead of finding more needles.

    The next thing to worry about when it comes to lethal payloads is the not-exactly-sterling reputation for targeting and (worse) for keeping control of them drones. There's also the problem that these things are small, so a lot easier to transport and hide.

    Oh, wait, I see what this is. Just planning ahead for the next war to grab a nice handful of tax dollars. There is no *need* for this to make sense. OK, got it now, sorry.

  16. David Austin

    Tesla would be happy

    Turns out he was ahead of the curve with his laser pigeon.

  17. Chris G

    If you really want

    To combat terrorism, fit the things with a decent selfy camera and a farcebook account. Those that don't waste too much time to fight will give themselves away.

  18. Lostintranslation

    Did you own a lovely, plump, speckily pigeon called Speckled Jim, which you hand reared from a chick and which was your only childhood friend?

    Yes! Yes, I did.

    And did Captain Blackadder shoot the aforementioned pigeon?

    Yes, he did!

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