scholarly journals Congress and the Trump Administration Spar Over U.S. Arms Sales to the Saudi-Led Coalition in Yemen

2021 ◽  
Vol 115 (1) ◽  
pp. 146-153
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Court ◽  
The State ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Export Control ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
Arms Sales ◽  
Civilian Casualty ◽  
Arms Export ◽  
Aerial Systems ◽  
Trump Administration

Longstanding tensions between Congress and the executive over U.S. support to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen have spurred conflict between the branches over arms sales. In May 2019, U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo declared an emergency under the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) to bypass congressional “freezes” on arms sales and complete $8.1 billion in sales to members of the Saudi-led coalition. In response, Congress requested that the State Department inspector general (IG) investigate the matter. In a report released in August 2020, the IG determined that the emergency declaration comported with the AECA's procedural requirements but that the State Department's risk assessments and civilian casualty mitigation measures did not fully address legal concerns about the sales. The Trump administration has continued to move forward with arms sales, including by unilaterally reinterpreting a nonbinding multilateral export control regime to eliminate prohibitions on the export of certain unmanned aerial systems (UAS). A bipartisan group of legislators has introduced a bill to prevent such sales to all countries except select U.S. allies. In September, a UN report criticized U.S. and other countries’ arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition and recommended referral of the situation in Yemen to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Unmanned Aerial Systems Platform Research Prognosis

2012 ◽  
Vol 225 ◽  
pp. 555-560
Author(s):  
Javaan Chahl
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ◽  
Systems Engineering ◽  
The State ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
Research Opportunities ◽  
Engineering Approach ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Research Investment ◽  
Aerial Vehicle ◽  
Aerial Systems

Much of aerospace academia is anticipating a boom in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) funding and research opportunities. The expectation is built on the premise that UAVs will revolutionize aerospace, which is likely based on current trends. There is also an anticipation of an increasing number of new platforms and research investment, which is likely but must be analyzed carefully to determine where the opportunities might lie. This paper draws on the state of industry and a systems engineering approach. We explore what aspects of UAVs really are the results of aerospace science advances and what aspects will be rather more mundane works of engineering.

scholarly journals Assessment of known impacts of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) on marine mammals: data gaps and recommendations for researchers in the United States

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney E. Smith ◽  
Seth T. Sykora-Bodie ◽  
Brian Bloodworth ◽  
Shalynn M. Pack ◽  
Trevor R. Spradlin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Marine Mammals ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
Research Paradigms ◽  
Current State ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Data Gaps ◽  
Available Information ◽  
Aerial Systems

The development of advanced technologies to enhance conservation science often outpaces the abilities of wildlife managers to assess and ensure such new tools are safely used in proximity to wild animals. Recently, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have become more accessible to civilian operators and are quickly being integrated into existing research paradigms to replace manned aircraft. Several federal statutes require scientists to obtain research permits to closely approach protected species of wildlife, such as marine mammals, but the lack of available information on the effects of UAS operations on these species has made it difficult to evaluate and mitigate potential impacts. Here, we present a synthesis of the current state of scientific understanding of the impacts of UAS usage near marine mammals. We also identify key data gaps that are currently limiting the ability of marine resource managers to develop appropriate guidelines, policies, or regulations for safe and responsible operation of UAS near marine mammals. We recommend researchers prioritize collecting, analyzing, and disseminating data on marine mammal responses to UAS when using the devices to better inform the scientific community, regulators, and hobbyists about potential effects and assist with the development of appropriate mitigation measures.

The Foreign Arms Sales Policy of the Carter Administration

1979 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-556
Author(s):  
Nicole Ball ◽  
Milton Leitenberg
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Third World ◽  
Carter Administration ◽  
Export Control ◽  
Arms Sales ◽  
Arms Trade ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Arms Export ◽  
The Third World

This paper makes the point that the Carter Administration is continuing the US policy of spreading militarization round the world, particularly in the Third World. During the Nixon and Ford Administrations, arms sales and transfers came to be used routinely as the quid pro quo in diplomacy. As a Presidential candidate, Carter pledged to reduce US involvement in the conventional arms trade. Nonetheless, within a year of his enunciating his ‘arms sales restraint’ policy in May 1977, the Administration proposed an end to the arms ban on Turkey, approved the sale of AWACs to Iran and 200 warplanes to the Mid-East, as well as a myriad of less controversial weapons deals. The dollar ceiling on arms sales, has been frequently circumvented. Despite the legislation requiring the cessation of military sales, loans and grants to countries in which there is a ‘consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights’, the Carter Administration continues to supply arms to many of the worst human rights offenders. And despite the Arms Export Control Act of 1976, the Administration has failed to act. It is extremely unlikely that any significant change will occur in the world arms trade despite President Carter's pronouncements against the ‘spiralling arms traffic’.

scholarly journals Quantifying Marine Macro Litter Abundance on a Sandy Beach Using Unmanned Aerial Systems and Object-Oriented Machine Learning Methods

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 2599
Author(s):  
Gil Gonçalves ◽  
Umberto Andriolo ◽  
Luísa Gonçalves ◽  
Paula Sobral ◽  
Filipa Bessa
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Sandy Beach ◽  
Object Oriented ◽  
Pollution Monitoring ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
Monitoring Programs ◽  
Aerial Systems

Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) have recently been proven to be valuable remote sensing tools for detecting marine macro litter (MML), with the potential of supporting pollution monitoring programs on coasts. Very low altitude images, acquired with a low-cost RGB camera onboard a UAS on a sandy beach, were used to characterize the abundance of stranded macro litter. We developed an object-oriented classification strategy for automatically identifying the marine macro litter items on a UAS-based orthomosaic. A comparison is presented among three automated object-oriented machine learning (OOML) techniques, namely random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and k-nearest neighbor (KNN). Overall, the detection was satisfactory for the three techniques, with mean F-scores of 65% for KNN, 68% for SVM, and 72% for RF. A comparison with manual detection showed that the RF technique was the most accurate OOML macro litter detector, as it returned the best overall detection quality (F-score) with the lowest number of false positives. Because the number of tuning parameters varied among the three automated machine learning techniques and considering that the three generated abundance maps correlated similarly with the abundance map produced manually, the simplest KNN classifier was preferred to the more complex RF. This work contributes to advances in remote sensing marine litter surveys on coasts, optimizing the automated detection on UAS-derived orthomosaics. MML abundance maps, produced by UAS surveys, assist coastal managers and authorities through environmental pollution monitoring programs. In addition, they contribute to search and evaluation of the mitigation measures and improve clean-up operations on coastal environments.

State Department Controls on Exports of Defense Articles and Defense Services

2021 ◽  
pp. 125-196
Author(s):  
Eric L. Hirschhorn ◽  
Brian J. Egan ◽  
Edward J. Krauland
Keyword(s):  
State Department ◽  
The State ◽  
Export Control ◽  
Political Contributions ◽  
Reporting Requirements ◽  
Provision Of Services ◽  
Regulatory Regimes ◽  
Arms Export ◽  
International Traffic

Chapter 2 covers U.S. government controls on exports, reexports, and transfers of “U.S.-origin” goods, software, and technology, and the provision of services, that are military in nature. These are governed principally by the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which are administered by the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC). The chapter explains: which items are subject to the ITAR; the basis and criteria for the ITAR’s restrictions; the requirement to register with DDTC if you export or manufacture items subject to the ITAR or if you are involved in other activities regulated by the ITAR; how to determine whether your product or technology is covered and, if so, whether you will need a license to export or reexport it; how to get a license if one is required; how to clear and document the actual export; the potential penalties for violating the rules; and reporting requirements related to political contributions, fees, and commissions paid in connection with certain sales, . The chapter also explains how the ITAR relate to the regulatory regimes covered in other parts of the book.

LIGHTER-THAN-AIR (LTA) UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEM (UAS) CARRIER CONCEPT FOR SURVAILLANCE AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 1255
Author(s):  
Ahmad Salahuddin Mohd Harithuddin ◽  
Mohd Fazri Sedan ◽  
Syaril Azrad Md Ali ◽  
Shattri Mansor ◽  
Hamid Reza Jifroudi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Disaster Management ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
Unmanned Aerial System ◽  
Border Control ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
Operational Safety ◽  
In Situ Methods ◽  
Aerial Systems

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) has many advantages in the fields of SURVAILLANCE and disaster management compared to space-borne observation, manned missions and in situ methods. The reasons include cost effectiveness, operational safety, and mission efficiency. This has in turn underlined the importance of UAS technology and highlighted a growing need in a more robust and efficient unmanned aerial vehicles to serve specific needs in SURVAILLANCE and disaster management. This paper first gives an overview on the framework for SURVAILLANCE particularly in applications of border control and disaster management and lists several phases of SURVAILLANCE and service descriptions. Based on this overview and SURVAILLANCE phases descriptions, we show the areas and services in which UAS can have significant advantage over traditional methods.

Beach and dune impacts due to Hurricane Florence in Dare County, North Carolina

Shore & Beach ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 44-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Sciaudone ◽  
Liliana Velasquez-Montoya
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Prior Knowledge ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽  
State University ◽  
National Wildlife Refuge ◽  
Sediment Samples ◽  
Wildlife Refuge ◽  
Full Report ◽  
Aerial Systems

Less than two weeks after Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina (NC), a team of researchers from NC State University traveled to Dare County to investigate the storm’s effects on beaches and dunes. Using available post-storm imagery and prior knowledge of vulnerabilities in the system, the team identified several locations to visit in the towns of Kitty Hawk, Nags Head, Rodanthe, Buxton, and Hatteras, as well as a number of locations within the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge (Figure 1). Data collected included topographic profiles, still imagery and video from unmanned aerial systems, sediment samples, and geo-located photography. This Coastal Observations piece presents some of the data and photos collected; the full report is available online (Sciaudone et al. 2019), and data collected will be made available to interested researchers upon request.

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