Wed, Oct 29, 2003
They Called it, Disguised it, as a Dragonfly
Tabassum Zakaria reports
for Reuters that the CIA built and tested a dragonfly-sized UAV
that was designed to carry a listening device short distances. The
CIA says it never used it, and that its full mission is still
secret.
The agency had a micro-mic and transmitter that the spooks
thought was just the thing for listening to people who didn't want
to be heard. We've all seen enough of those spy movies -- where
spies meet on sidewalk cafes, because they don't trust their
offices and hotel rooms -- to know that an insect-sized device
would go unnoticed, at least until someone slapped it.
The original idea was to disguise the UAV as a bumblebee, but,
as everyone knows, bumblebees aren't supposed to be able to fly...
and the CIA's effort was proof of that theory. An entymologist
suggested a much-better-designed six-legged flying machine -- a
dragonfly -- as the perfect vehicle, and the CIA built one.
The thing flew, it is said, a bladder carrying liquid fuel of
some sort. A watchmaker built the engine, which actually made the
wings beat. A laser steered the little bug [get it? -- "bug" --ed.]
at ranges that were, one would guess, measured in tens of feet.
The machine is on exhibit at the 40th anniversary of the
CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology, but the public,
naturally, can't get in.
The CIA says it never used the dragonfly-UAV, and that it built
just the one. While a real dragonfly is used to coping with wind
gusts, this machine simply couldn't. Whether today's technology
could easily control the little "insectothopter" is a matter for
speculation... inside the agency.
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