The technology for the 85 mini ‘Raven’ drones being offered by the US has not only been available in Pakistan for years, localmr drone manufacturers say they can build an equally potent, if not a more powerful version, at just  a fifth of the price quoted by US manufacturers. Sources within the military and local drone manufacturing industry say that at least 11 corps of the Pakistan Army are set to receive a system each, comprising six Raven aircraft and one ground station. While officials are tight-lipped about the exact cost and model of the short-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufactured by the US-based AeroVironment Inc, the cost of each system is estimated to be between $200,000 and $275,000. The funds for their procurement are expected to come from the US government’s foreign military sales’ provisions for security assistance and aid. ISPR spokesperson Major-General Athar Abbas however says the deal has not been formalised yet. “We are yet to receive a formal proposal from the US regarding the Raven drone.

So until we receive that I won’t be able to give a comment,” he said. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Army, which had been pushing for an armed drone from the US, is reportedly irked that not only have their pleas for a Predator-like armed drone been shot down, negotiations for 12 long-range reconnaissance Shadow drones that were offered last year have also hit a wall. Sources within the military say that although negotiations for the Shadow reconnaissance drone are still going on, they are unhappy at the astronomical price tag (estimated at more than $20 million) and a delivery timeline of 2014.media markt parrot ar drone “Who knows at what stage the war on terror will be in 2014,” an official privy to the negotiations said.best drone with camera and gps Raja Sabri Khan chief executive of Integrated Dynamics, a private company based in Karachi, called the Raven ‘a toy’ that was developed 15 years ago.remote control drone ipad

He said one has to log on to YouTube to see the same product was being used by the US Marines as a toy when hanging out at the beach. “It’s a bit of a joke really,” he said. Khan, an MIT graduate whose drones are being exported the world over, said his company already has a product called Rover that far exceeds the capability of Raven at just one-third of the price. A system of six Rover UAVs, including the controlling station, would cost about $65,000, he said.grendel drone commander ebay “There are at least two to three companies in Pakistan who, if asked to develop something like the Raven at one-third of the cost, could have delivered the entire order within just three months,” he said.remote control drones ebay East West Infiniti Private Ltd (EWI) managing director Dr Haroon Qureshi from Islamabad also dismissed the Raven drone offer from the US as ‘a public relations exercise’ designed to give a false impression to the military and public in Pakistan that the Americans are offering sophisticated technology.black hornet drone nano pd-100 prs

He said Ravens are useful for short term missions but have little tactical value. Given their fragility and high damage rate, the military will be spending huge sums of money on acquiring parts if it opts for the Raven, he added. Ahmed Rehan, the Lahore-based CEO of a private company Technocrafts, has been in the business of manufacturing reconnaissance and target drones since 1994. He has been exporting his products to the Middle Eastern market, including Saudi Arabia. “I have been trying to sell my company’s Condor mini drone to the military, which is more powerful than the American Raven, for the last three years, but every time I’ve hit a dead end,” Rehan said, adding his product is available at just one-fifth of the cost of Raven. Despite the fact that he had met all requirements of the military for the mini drone, including versions with handheld or vehicle-mounted launch and parachute landing, he said he still hasn’t been given the go ahead. “I’m hoping for a miracle now,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25th, 2011.Red Digital Cinema is a big name in the professional camera market, and the company’s cameras have been used in films like Avengers: Age of Ultron, Jurassic World, and the upcoming Matt Damon-helmed flick, The Martian. But not every producer can afford Red’s mega-expensive cameras to shoot films that will end up grossing hundred of millions of dollars at the box office. So the company has announced the Raven, which is a much more affordable camera that while still out of reach for most consumers, is within reason for indie filmmakers. The 3.5-pound Raven uses an 8.8 MP Red Dragon image sensor, which is based on the same sensor that you’ll find in the $29,000 Epic camera. The Raven is capable of recording 4,096 x 2,160 (4K) video at up to 120 fps, or 2048 x 1080 (2K) at up to 240 fps. ProRes 2048 x 1080 is also supports at up to 60 fps. While the Raven won’t set you back the cost of the average new car sold in the United States — like the Epic — it is still pricey at $5,950.

And that’s just for the body only. If you want to use the Raven on your drone, you’ll need to fork over an eye-watering $9,750 for the “Jetpack” package. Yet another package, which is aimed at documentary and TV producers, costs $9,950. “Whether shooting for documentaries, online content creation, indie filmmaking, or with drones and gimbals—Red Raven’s durable, lightweight construction is ideal for any situation,” said Red in a statement. “Red Raven’s announcement reflects Red’s ongoing commitment to the belief that cinema-quality creative tools should not be in the hands of a few—they should be available to all professional shooters.” Red is currently taking pre-orders of the Raven and it will ship in February 2016. blog comments powered byGE's Raven Drone Can Detect Gas Leaks GE's Raven drone prototype is "engineered to detect emissions precisely and cost-effectively." For 112 days late last year and into 2016, a Los Angeles storage facility leaked millions of pounds of natural gas, producing the worst manmade greenhouse gas disaster in the US, according to the Washington Post.

Now, GE is testing a drone that might prevent something similar from happening in the future. The company's so-called Raven drone prototype is "engineered to detect emissions precisely and cost-effectively." The drone was piloted this summer by Southwestern Energy Company in Arkansas, which was able to find leaks on oilfield equipment at well sites. But GE showed it off again last week at the unveiling of the GE Oil and Gas Technology Center in Oklahoma City, which will act as a central hub for GE scientists and engineers to work on new technologies for the oil and gas industry. Raven is a platform that includes a drone, autonomous flight technology, and a ground-based telecom system that will stream data from the drone to a cloud-based analytics systems. According to GE, the system is designed so anyone can use it; just plug coordinates into a mobile app and the drone will take flight, hopping from one GPS point to another. Workers can watch from afar; no need to be in the field themselves.