[net-gold] Secrecy News -- 03/19/12
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- Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:51:50 -0400 (EDT)
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Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:28:51 -0400
From: Steven Aftergood <saftergood@xxxxxxx>
To: saftergood@xxxxxxx
Subject: Secrecy News -- 03/19/12
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SECRECY NEWS
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from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2012, Issue No. 25
March 19, 2012
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Secrecy News Blog:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
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** SECRET DRONE TECHNOLOGY BARRED BY "POLITICAL CONDITIONS"
SECRET DRONE TECHNOLOGY BARRED BY "POLITICAL CONDITIONS"
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A certain technology that could extend the mission duration and capabilities
of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) was favorably assessed last year by
scientists at Sandia National Laboratories and Northrop Grumman Systems
Corporation. But they concluded regretfully that "current political
conditions will not allow use of the results."
The assessment was carried out to explore the feasibility of next generation
UAVs. The objective was "to increase UAV sortie duration from days to
months while increasing available electrical power at least two-fold,"
according to a June 2011 Sandia project summary.
http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/sand-uav.pdf
And that objective could have been achieved by means of the unidentified
technology, which "would have provided system performance unparalleled by
other existing technologies," the project summary said.
"As a result of this effort, UAVs were to be able to provide far more
surveillance time and intelligence information while reducing the high cost
of support activities. This technology was intended to create unmatched
global capabilities to observe and preempt terrorist and weapon of mass
destruction (WMD) activities."
But it was all for nought.
"Unfortunately, none of the results will be used in the near-term or
mid-term future," the project summary stated. "It was disappointing to all
that the political realities would not allow use of the results."
Not only that, but "none of the results can be shared openly with the public
due to national security constraints."
On close reading, it seems clear that the Sandia-Northrop project
contemplated the use of nuclear technology for onboard power and propulsion.
The project summary, which refers to "propulsion and power technologies that
[go] well beyond existing hydrocarbon technologies," does not actually use
the word "nuclear." But with unmistakable references to "safeguards,"
"decommissioning and disposal," and those unfavorable "political
conditions," there is little doubt about the topic under discussion.
Furthermore, the project's lead investigator at Sandia, the aptly named Dr.
Steven B. Dron, is a specialist in nuclear propulsion, among other things.
He co-chaired a session at the 2008 Symposium on Space Nuclear Power and
Propulsion at the University of New Mexico.
Interestingly, opposition to flying nuclear power sources in this case was
internalized without needing to be expressed, and the authors were
self-deterred from pursuing their own proposals. "The results will not be
applied/implemented," they stated flatly.
Meanwhile, integration of (conventional) unmanned aircraft systems into the
National Airspace System will proceed, as mandated by Congress. On March 6,
the Federal Aviation Administration issued a request for public comments on
the pending designation of six UAS test sites around the country.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2012/03/faa-uas.html
Last month, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and other public
interest organizations petitioned the FAA "to conduct a rulemaking to
address the threat to privacy and civil liberties that will result from the
deployment of aerial drones within the United States."
http://epic.org/privacy/drones/
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_______________________________________________
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Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation
of American Scientists.
The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
To SUBSCRIBE to Secrecy News, go to:
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Secrecy News is archived at:
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Support the FAS Project on Government Secrecy with a donation:
http://www.fas.org/member/donate_today.html
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_______________________
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Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: saftergood@xxxxxxx
voice: (202) 454-4691
twitter: @saftergood
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