FTFA: Philippine navy officer Capt. Jason Rommel Galang said, adding it was not clear why the unmanned aerial vehicle ended up off Masbate.

"It was a stroke of luck", he continued, "it's like it came out of nowhere...with no warning. The important thing is we can now start to sop up this mess."

Capt. Jason Rommel Galang

YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARD!

"Masbate" island? Really?!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BQM-74

It's a target drone. Not news.

MelGoesOnTour: "Masbate" island? Really?!

I stayed there for waaaaay too long it's hard to get off.

Issa target drone.
Nothing to see here.

U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Bettina Malone said efforts were under way to determine if the drone was one of those used in American military air target training exercises and why it was in the waters off Masbate, about 235 miles southeast of Manila. The type of drone found was not armed and not used for surveillance, she said.

Hey! It was just a training drone. I'm sure you all see those all of the time. I mean, its not like we were spying on YOU or anything.

This is the military equivalent of listening to an argument through a door and having one or the people who is arguing open the door, making you fall into the room.

Target drone.

Pinner: MelGoesOnTour: "Masbate" island? Really?!

I stayed there for waaaaay too long it's hard to get off.

all you end up doing is hanging around.
Eventually you stop standing up for yourself and limp along.

What a bunch of wankers.

MelGoesOnTour: "Masbate" island? Really?!

Well, it's two islands. Separated by the Strait of Tur.

There once was a drone that was floating,
almost as if it was gloating
"I won't do more missions
'til I've done enough fishin'
Now let me get back to my boating."

It's a glorified clay pigeon, nothing more. Sell it to Iran or something.

mbillips: DROxINxTHExWIND: U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Bettina Malone said efforts were under way to determine if the drone was one of those used in American military air target training exercises and why it was in the waters off Masbate, about 235 miles southeast of Manila. The type of drone found was not armed and not used for surveillance, she said.

Hey! It was just a training drone. I'm sure you all see those all of the time. I mean, its not like we were spying on YOU or anything.

This is the military equivalent of listening to an argument through a door and having one or the people who is arguing open the door, making you fall into the room.

Except that we operate surveillance drones in the Philippines all the time, with the full cooperation of the Philippine government, to spy on the Muslim insurgents. A cursory wiki search shows that's not a surveillance drone.

Way to shiat on my joke with "information" and "facts".

This just in. It's really a weather balloon. Nothing to see here, citizen!

If it weren't for the bright orange paint job and the stealthy design, my first thought would have been a target drone.

/anyone else think target drone

I that it's already been pointed out that is a BQM-74 Chukar aerial target (as indicated in the article), hence the bright orange paint and the clearly marked US insignia.

The US Navy and the Philippines military regularly hold joint training exercises. The wikipedia article has a picture of one of these targets floating (and being recovered) in the exact state as the article picture.

Being that they float, they do drift along in the ocean currents. I'm not sure why this is considered newsworthy.

Rufus Lee King: Do you know what else floats?

[24.media.tumblr.com image 449x590]

Hello, sailors. *hops in*

Rufus Lee King: Do you know what else floats?

Very small rocks?

Well since everyone else said it I was going to say it looked like a practice drone or one of them old old school cruise missles

Jackson Herring: It's a target drone for gunnery practice, which is why it is painted bright farking orange and blown the fark up.

Came here to say this. Nothing else needs to be said.

Rufus Lee King: Do you know what else floats?

[24.media.tumblr.com image 449x590]

I don't think I'm mistaken when I point out that one of the guys under the hose is jacking the other one off.

Oh, Navy. You and your antics.

Looks like an AK-47 drone to me.

I wonder long long and far this target drone drifted, before the fishermen found it? Usually, these things have some kind of plug or link that dissolves in water and floods or disassembles the item to sink it, or a small demo charge to scuttle it.

Jackson Herring: It's a target drone for gunnery practice, which is why it is painted bright farking orange and blown the fark up.

What I was thinking. Most of the time they don't want you to know they see what your up too.

It's a BQM-74 Chukar target drone.



The only time those suckers have seen service in wartime is as decoys during the gulf war.

Fark Me To Tears: Target drone? Since it appears to be intact, I guess the training wasn't very going very well the day this one was launched.

AA guns fire ahead of their targets, so the aircraft flies into the flack.

Since training rounds are in use, no flack is created and the hits are calculated by radar proximity or something similar.

It's designed to be re-usable. You can see the recovery parachute in the water behind it.