What does a company with close ties to the Chinese military want with a robotic, crop-dusting, mini-helicopter? And why was Yamaha willing to sell nine of the things, in violation of export control laws?
Those are some of the questions being asked in Asia this week, after more than 200 Japanese police raided Yamaha offices on Monday.
“Investigators seized the helicopter, a manually controlled RMAX L181 type, after Nagoya customs last month halted the shipment, citing insufficient documentation,” the Asahi Shimbun reports.
They said the helicopter… has GPS and an autopilot device… As long as it is programmed beforehand with flight routes and other data and by activating the GPS, the unmanned craft can continue to fly even when it is outside radio control.
While the helicopter was designed for crop-dusting, these features allow it to be used for military reconnaissance as well as spreading biochemical weapons, officials say.
Yamaha officials admitted to investigators that the helicopter was equipped with functions restricted by the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law.
In Japan, more than 1600 of the robo-copters are used to spray crops. Here in the States, the RMAXs are equipped with cameras, to shoot movies and TV commercials. That’s what Yamaha says the nine China-bound drones are for.
I have no idea whether or not to believe the company. I’m sure Yamaha didn’t intend to give robotic bioweapons-sprayers to China’s military. (For that matter, I have a hard time believing Beijing would want to add robotic bioweapons-sprayers to its arsenal.) But a little unmanned, hovering scout? The People’s Liberation Army could find some way to use that, I’m sure.
(Big ups: CS)
Friends of me build helos like this as a hobby. I did a bit of programing for the software. No GPS yet, but autopilot and it automatically follows a “come home” radio signal even when the usual radiocontrol is out of reach. Zje camera is good for some 15 minutes look at the ground.
GPS is next. Not difficult to do. All parts are “off the shelve” of hobby and electronic stores. If the Chinese would want these birds for something “sinister” they would just build ‘em.
Good Morning Folks,
This is another example of Japan selling technology to whom ever has the money, regardles of how it affects it’s “friend” and protector. Does anyone recall in the 1970’s when Toshiba sold to the Soviets CNC Mills that could and were used to manufacture the propellers for nuclear submarines (the software sent with the machines gave the Soviets the ability to make quieter subnarines, which they did) via Finland about the same time the Walker family was doing their thing?
It has alway been a wonder that the Japanese who present themselves as above board and very proper in all things can routine practice treachery and deception as a matter of policy.
Toshiba skated because to make an issue of this the U.S. would have to have reveled to much “classified” material.
For the U.S., why don’t we buy the Yamaha and scrap the Grumman “Fire Scout” which neither the Marines or the Navy really wants.
If we are going to blow bucks on unwanted weapons system the least we could do is buy the cheapest.
ALLONS,
Byron Skinner
I agree with b. I have a hard time beleiving a country like China cant make their own UAV helicopters.
I agree with b. I have a hard time beleiving a country like China cant make their own UAV helicopters.
[humor]They make all the off the shelf components the rest of the world uses, im sure they have plenty of resource to get started making a UAV.[/humor]
Japan? The evil exporter? Please… the US has a much worse track record of doing the same… we shouldn’t go THERE
Byron take a Prozac, buddy! That technology is off the shelf. China can built them themselves if they wanted to. As for the Japanese selling to anyone, don’t throw rocks my friend. Numerous U.S. companies have been caught doing the same thing. Not to mention it was the Japanese government that stopped the shipment.
There are plenty of reasons China doesn’t want to build their own. The first is that it is much cheaper to buy technology already developed than develop their own. Secondly, they may not have the technology to make it work as well as they required. Finally, if they have the ability to make it for peaceful means, why are they spending the money abroad? Besides, who wouldn’t use something for military advantage that they bought for peaceful means? The Russians did the same, so why not the Chinese?May God bless the Chinese but, I think they are dirty up to there eyeballs.
I love Japan, in fact I call Japan my second home, business there is like most everywhere else, all about profit, clean or dirty. Can’t say there is much diffence in American companies. So, I’m not shocked that they were caught again. I wonder how much illegal technology has passed hand through Japan that wasn’t caught.
Correct me if I am wrong…. Didn’t some companys in the United States Continue to trade with Germany all throughout then Second World War and OUR GOVERNMENT LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT???? At least in this instance the JAPANESE GOVERNMENT stopped the Shipnent of these items…
Why being paranoid?