TERRIFYING as it may appear, the machine pictured above is not a giant flying mechanical spider. Nor is it a surveillance drone from science fiction thriller set in a dystopian future (although it could be sooner than you think).
It is in fact a very real, very scary-looking flying robot. So then yes, it is a drone. More specifically it’s a Skunk Riot Control Copter pepper-spray drone (the Skunk for short) brought to you by the folks at Desert Wolf, a South African company that also deals in surveillance, mining and camping equipment, among other things.
According to Desert Wolf’s website, the Skunk is designed to control unruly crowds without endangering the lives of the protestors or the security staff.
Armed with four high-capacity paint ball guns that can each fire up to 20 bullets per second, Desert Wolf is pretty confident that 80 pepper bullets per second will stop any crowd in its tracks.
It is also equipped with a FLIR thermal camera, full HD video colour camera, on board recording, full telemetry data link, and long range control link.
Desert Wolf’s website claims the Skunk was made with the aim to assist in preventing another Marikana, which is probably why Desert Wolf is marketing the R500 000 rand drone to mining and security companies, both at home and abroad.
Apparently 25 of these aerial beasts have been grabbed up by local and international mining companies, and there is growing interest from mining and security companies in South Africa.
A Game of Drones
Drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are either controlled by ‘pilots’ from the ground or autonomously following a pre-programmed mission, making them ideal for remote surveillance, or if you’re the US military, bombing targets from a safe distance .
While there are dozens of different types of drones, they basically fall into two categories: those that are used for reconnaissance and surveillance purposes and those that are armed with missiles and bombs.
Once used exclusively in military operations, drone technology is finding a growing number of civil applications in policing, firefighting, nonmilitary security work, film-making, and probably very soon, home deliveries.
The legalities surrounding the flying of drones, which are classified as Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), under South Africa skies remain unclear. While it may be something fairly new to most South Africans, a recent Rand study names South Africa as one of 23 countries developing or has developed weaponised drone technology.
The current civil aviation legislation does not provide for certification, registration and/or operations of UAS in South Africa, and according to the South African Civil Aviation Authority, the Director of Civil Aviation (DCA) has not given any concession or approval to any organisation, individual, institution or government entity to operate UAS within the civil aviation airspace.
