Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Emerging Tech
  3. News

Bird-like drone recovered in Somalia is the real ‘Black Hawk Down’

By
Add as a preferred source on Google

An unusual bird-like drone was found last week in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. The origins of the crudely designed UAV are unknown, but early reports suggest it may belong to Somali intelligence agency NISA.

The black-colored bird drone was found by residents and posted on social media where the photo was shared all around the world. With its broad, sweeping wings and long tail feathers, the drone’s body was designed to mimic a hawk so as to conceal that it was a UAV.

Recommended Videos

The only drone parts visible were the two front propellers used to power the device. When flying at cruising height, only avid bird watchers would be able to tell the difference between the bird and a drone.

The UAV reportedly carried no payload and was likely used for some form of surveillance. Based on its relatively simple design, the operator probably launched the UAV from a local position and likely was nearby when the drone crashed and burned in a public area. Nobody has publicly claimed ownership of the drone and only a few details on the device are available. It is not know how or why the UAV crashed.

This incident isn’t the first time a bird-like drone has been spotted falling from the sky. In 2011, a similar unusual bird-like drone was recovered in Pakistan. The Pakistan drone was silver in color and on the smaller side. Its wingspan was about as long as a man’s outstretched arms and it was light enough to be easily handled by a single individual.

Similar to the recently recovered Somalia drone, the Pakistani bird drone was thought to be a surveillance drone, and it contained a camera that was recovered following the crash.

The USA military and other armed forces around the world are known to have bat-like drones for use in conjunction with surveillance vehicles. As part of its Fast Lightweight Autonomy project, DARPA is working on developing bird-like robotic drones that can fly autonomously and provide critical information about potentially dangerous situations.

The latest quadcopters being tested by DARPA can travel at speeds up to 20 meters per second without help from an operator or GPS guidance.

Kelly Hodgkins
Kelly Hodgkins
Former Contributor
Kelly's been writing online for ten years, working at Gizmodo, TUAW, and BGR among others. Living near the White Mountains of…
Topics
Anti-surveillance clothing is getting cheaper, but don’t expect an invisibility cloak
Affordable shirts now claim to confuse facial recognition, although their protection depends heavily on the camera and software watching you
Chart, Plot, Adult

Anti-surveillance clothing is starting to look less like an art-school experiment and more like something you could actually wear outside. Shirts designed to confuse facial recognition systems now cost about as much as ordinary streetwear, although buying one won’t make you disappear.

The Guardian reports that designers are using face-like prints, unusual cuts and infrared lights to interfere with computer vision. These techniques target specific weaknesses, so their success depends on what happens to be watching you.

Read more
This spinning drone hides in plain sight using a visual illusion
This drone doesn't turn invisible. It tricks your brain into thinking it has.
Phantom Twist

For decades, engineers have chased the dream of an invisible drone. The usual approaches have involved transparent materials, camouflage coatings, or complex optical systems that bend light around an object. Researchers at Northwestern University decided to take a completely different route. Instead of hiding the drone itself, they chose to fool the human eye.

The result is Phantom Twist, an experimental drone that spins so rapidly it almost disappears into the background. It's not technically invisible, but to anyone watching, it looks more like a faint blur than a flying machine.

Read more
This smart knitted fabric can flip switches, count your steps, and even change shape
Grandma's knitting just entered its Iron Man era
Representative Image

For most of us, knitting brings to mind sweaters, scarves, and perhaps an ambitious grandmother determined to make winter more fashionable. Researchers at Harvard University, however, have a far more futuristic vision. They've transformed ordinary knitted fabric into a programmable material capable of changing shape, acting as an electrical switch, sensing movement, and potentially forming the foundation of tomorrow's wearable technology.

The research, published in Advanced Functional Materials by scientists at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), demonstrates how machine-knitted textiles can "snap" between multiple stable shapes without relying on motors or rigid mechanical parts.

Read more