Increased security?

A little drone went on a long journey when Fort Carson controllers lost track of the 4-pound RQ-11 craft and it wandered all the way to a neighborhood near downtown Colorado Springs.


Tom Roeder reports at the Colorado Springs Gazette,

Last week, U.S. Northern Command at Peterson Air Force Base ordered increased security at all American military installations.

...It's the highest security level seen since 9/11 at local bases. The use of drones for base security was common overseas during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but uncommon in the crowded airspace of the U.S.

The Raven, the smallest drone in the Army's inventory, flies not far over rooftops at a sedate 30 mph, making it unlikely to tangle with larger craft. Batteries allow the Raven to stay aloft for about 90 minutes.

The tiny spy planes, though, have a tendency to get lost. Ravens have gone wayward on several Fort Carson training exercises over the past decade, spurring searches of the post's ranges.

Raven crashes occur on every flight. The small plane is designed to stall out at low altitude and fall to the ground where soldiers can recover it.

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