Google Gives $5 Million to Drone Program That Will Track Poachers - Rebecca J. Rosen. If left unchecked, poaching threatens to annihilate some of the world's biggest and most beautiful species. Can UAVs stop the bloodshed? Rangers patrol a thicket where poachers have been known to hide in Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya. (Reuters) Obama 'Af-Pak ' mission allows Blackwater to kill more. Obama 'Af-Pak ' mission allows Blackwater to kill more The Obama administration is still using Blackwater in Afghanistan-Pakistan drone killings The Obama administration has retained services of the notorious Blackwater guards to carry out drone attacks in Afghanistan, a new report reveals.
Despite controversial records of indiscriminate civilian killings in Iraq during the Bush administration, the shadowy US-based paramilitary security company has continued its ongoing relationship with Washington under President Barack Obama. A fresh report by the New York Times revealed on Friday that Blackwater USA has been contracted to work with the unmanned Predator drones that carry out assassinations and terrorize villages in eastern and southern Afghanistan and the border regions of Pakistan. Hoosier Robot Killers. Afghanistan Pakistan Private Military Contractors.
But this is no schoolboy experiment, and the small flying cylinder is no model airplane.
It is the Voyeur UAV, or unmanned aerial vehicle, also known as a “drone.” According to the website of its manufacturer, West Lafayette-based Lite Machines, Inc., the Voyeur is designed to allow military and law enforcement to conduct surveillance and “human or non-human target acquisition.” The Voyeur can travel as far as 50 miles in the air and can hover over and/or touch its target. Lite Machines is based in the Purdue Research Park, which promotes the fact that the company has received a $10.5 million contract from the U.S. Navy.