They have caused chaos at airports around the world and there are fears they could be used to launch deadly terrorist attacks.
But new technology on display this week aims to turn the tide in the war against rogue drones.
US defence company Raytheon has developed a system designed to identify unmanned aerial vehicles and disable them.
The ground-based technology can shoot down the drones with lasers or adopt a “soft kill” approach where signal jammers prevent their operation.
On Monday, Todd Probert, a vice president at Raytheon, said the company had seen a recent rise in interest for products capable of taking on drones.
He said their latest system, called Windshear, performed well in tests and would soon be ready for sale.
“I bought my son a drone for $29 for Christmas,” Mr Probert said. “That drone could cause harm in any number of environments - at an airport by flying through an engine or at a stadium by dropping on a person.
“We’ve built a system that has had operational demonstrations that have gone very successfully and we’re in talks with a number of parties about full deployment in the near term.
“One of the things we’re looking to do is get in with a partner airport and mature a concept of operations that’s repeatable and scalable.”
In December last year, drone sightings over Gatwick airport in London disrupted about 1,000 flights in three days.
And on Friday, a drone scare at Dubai International Airport grounded flights and caused delays.
Mr Probert said air-traffic control towers struggled to pick up drones on their radar.
But he said Windshear included software to make detection and response far more efficient.
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Idex 2019: Big guns on show at Abu Dhabi expo
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The company said Windshear’s arsenal included lasers capable of burning holes in a drone at long range, and signal-jamming equipment allowing operators to take over control of a drone’s flight.
Speaking at Idex in Abu Dhabi, Mr Probert said the vast majority of issues with drones were “nuisance” cases caused by inexperienced operators.
But he said the use of drones was likely to become increasingly attractive to more sinister groups because they were easy to acquire.
“Whether it’s the cyber threat or the improvised explosives threat in the battle space, it’s all about the economic equation of the barriers to go and do nefarious things,” Mr Probert said.
“Previous threats, to fire a missile at an airplane or whatever, took nation state actors or actors with large pocket books.
“But these drones – for $1,000 you can get a pretty sophisticated system –that’s a very low barrier. So the barriers to doing nefarious things are significantly lower.”
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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More on Quran memorisation:
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Palestine and Israel - live updates
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Neil Thomson – THE BIO
Family: I am happily married to my wife Liz and we have two children together.
Favourite music: Rock music. I started at a young age due to my father’s influence. He played in an Indian rock band The Flintstones who were once asked by Apple Records to fly over to England to perform there.
Favourite book: I constantly find myself reading The Bible.
Favourite film: The Greatest Showman.
Favourite holiday destination: I love visiting Melbourne as I have family there and it’s a wonderful place. New York at Christmas is also magical.
Favourite food: I went to boarding school so I like any cuisine really.
How to vote in the UAE
1) Download your ballot https://www.fvap.gov/
2) Take it to the US Embassy
3) Deadline is October 15
4) The embassy will ensure all ballots reach the US in time for the November 3 poll
