Secret Nazi World War II experimental drone – uncovered by the Register

Google is planning to use unmanned “spy drones” like those used by special forces to improve its maps, according to an aircraft manufacturer.

Sven Juerss, the chief executive of Microdrones GmbH, a German firm which builds unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), has said that his company has supplied Google with one aircraft already and expects to provide “dozens” more in the future.

However, Google has moved swiftly to deny that the purchase was for company use – Peter Barron, a spokesman for the firm’s UK office, told the Telegraph: “Google is not testing or using this technology. This was a purchase by a Google executive with an interest in robotics for personal use…”

The UAV, known as a “hicam microdrone”, is less than 1m wide and weighs less than a kilogram. It has four battery-powered rotors and can stay in the air for more than an hour. It navigates itself automatically and can take high-quality photographs of large areas beneath it…

It seems likely that the drones will start a new Google privacy row, despite the shots not being significantly different from existing aerial photography. Street View, the ground-level photography of the world’s streets, sparked controversy as various photographs were claimed to invade people’s privacy.

Techno-paranoia produces lockstep blather and noise as predictably as a Gay interracial couple on holiday walking into a church for a few photos. Let the games begin…