The Syrian civil war is one of the century’s greatest catastrophes. As many as half a million people have been killed and millions more displaced. The war is also erasing Syria’s history. New drone video shows damage to Syria’s heritage with Byzantine churches, monasteries and even whole villages ruined by ten years of war.
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Two MQ-9 Reaper drones have reportedly fallen out of the sky after they collided with one another over Syria according to a defense official. The military drones are said to have collided yesterday with the burning drones seen tumbling toward the ground.
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An image of Syrian Arab Army (SAA) soldiers holding a FLIR Back Hornet drone that was reportedly captured in northeast town of Tal Tamr, Syria. The drone was captured by two soldiers and is believed to be from the US armed forces.
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According to four U.S. officials, Russia has found a way to jam American unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) over Syria, seriously impacting the drone operations. It started a few weeks ago, after the suspected chemical attacks on civilians in rebel-held eastern Ghouta. First, the Russians began jamming some of the smaller drones as they were seemingly afraid the U.S. military would retaliate over the attacks.
Photographer and director, Joey L recently was invited to talk about his portrait and drone photography in the Syrian conflict zone at Hardwired NYC. In the 21-minute presentation (see video below), he explains the crucial role cheap consumer drones have played in his ability to capture the warzone from the Kurdish perspective. He also talks about what it was like to fly a DJI Inspire drone through, what the locals called, the ‘ISIS Winter’ in Al-Qayyara, Iraq.
An Israeli attack helicopter takes out an Iranian drone as soon as it entered the airspace of Israel. The drone was based on an American stealth drone that was intercepted six years ago by Iran.
PHOTO: OLGA BALASHOVA/RUSSIAN DEFENCE M/ZUMA PRESS
Last week we reported on the drone attack on the Russian airbase, Khmeimim as well as a naval facility in the city of Tartus on Syria’s western coast. In these attacks, 13 drones had been launched from as far as 35 miles away, according to the Russian defense ministry.
Today we learn that the heavily armed Russian military bases in Syria are ill-equipped to defend themselves against drone attacks from insurgent rebel groups opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The U.S. government has been concerned about this possibility and in another video, we were warned about swarms of drones being used to attack and now we learn that the first documented attack by a swarm of drones has actually taken place in Syria during the night of January 5. The Russian airbase, Khmeimim as well as a naval facility in the city of Tartus on Syria’s western coast were attacked by 13 drones launched from as far as 35 miles away, according to the Russian defense ministry.
With the use anti-aircraft missiles, the Russians were able to shoot down seven of the thirteen drones. Another six were hacked by a cyberware unit and taken under Russian control. There were no casualties or injuries at the two military bases.
You only have to see a few videos like these to understand why governments are getting so nervous about drones.
Various government agencies globally, such as the FAA, Canada Transport, and the English Department for Transport (DFT) are all springing into action after a Black Hawk helicopter hit a drone over Staten Island, another drone hit a passenger airplane over Quebec City Airport and there was a near miss with a drone at Gatwick Airport.
Chilling drone footage from the Associated Press shows the utter and total devastation of the city of Raqqa in Northern Syria. Most of the damage was caused during the final weeks of fighting between the Kurdish-led forces and ISIS. On Thursday, October 20th the Kurdish-led forces announced that with the support of the U.S.-led coalition had driven out the Islamic State militants after weeks of fighting.