On Friday, Turkey shot down a drone aircraft that violated its airspace. U.S. officials believe it was a Russian drone, although the Russians deny losing any of their equipment. Saturday brought a warning from Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu that his country is prepared to fire on manned aircraft, as well.
The technology for drone delivery services is ready to roll – only legal barriers and public perception remain. Public and legal resistance to flying drones over sparsely populated areas is likely to erode first, although Sweeney optimistically predicted urban delivery services could be approved within two years, accompanied by the creation of “an entirely new division of Air Traffic Control” coming online to handle drone flight plans.
Sudan’s army reportedly claimed that it shot down an Israeli drone that infiltrated its air space, denying Arab media reports that the unnamed aerial vehicle (UAV) struck a weapons facility near the Sudanese city of Omdurman.
Moments before he reportedly died in his Saudi Arabian hotel under suspicious circumstances, American defense contractor Christopher Cramer texted, “I’m at the Marakim [sic] Tabuk Hotel in Saudi. I think something bad is going to happen to me tonight. Please contact state ddept [sic] ASAP. Bad things were said.”
