Forget the zombie apocalypse, here's the real danger coming: DRONES!

[Harvs]

They need a radio frequency to operate, jammers would be a good security measure but lobbing a few EMP bangers wouldn't hurt and i'm sure a load of buckshot would ruin their day.

[Betonov]

Ron Swanson had the right idea




Shooting them from the sky is no problem. A simple rope tied to a tree and a stone could do it. Detecting them is the problem
How small can we make a radar and sell it

[Harvs]

Good idea on the radar or even motion sensors but the bird population could suffer a bit of a setback.

[Gargamel]

Originally Posted by Harvs

They need a radio frequency to operate, jammers would be a good security measure but lobbing a few EMP bangers wouldn't hurt and i'm sure a load of buckshot would ruin their day.

Radio jammer's would be ineffective in a ways.

I'm currently (slowly) building a Quadcopter of my own. The Tx/Rx system is the same for the rest of my RC stuff, so that will be easy, the rest is all off the shelf.

Where Jammers would fall short is when you start adding GPS guidance. Yes, GPS jammers do exist, but having them on all the time is not practical. I guess an on demand jammer could work though.

My Design I'm eventually building is a Automated drone, with a camera, that will follow another GPS tagged device at a given distance and altitude. Using a couple Arduino processors, The camera's auto leveling gimbal will always point the camera at the target, and the Drone will try to stay at a pre programmed (or variable through the controller) bearing on the 'target'. Hopefully this will result in very accurate and steady Camera work. I eventually plan on programming in predetermined fly-by paths.

Of course, I'll have the controller in hand if anything goes wrong.

This is all off the shelf stuff, and can be done for only a few hundred bucks.

So somebody can prepogram in a flight plan, and positions and angles to fire a gun or drop explosives. If they want to get clever, without switching hardware, they can have the navigation processor switch over to an inertial guidance system if the GPS signal is jammed.

At that point, it's pretty much down to physically bringing the thing down, and I'd put my money on the drone surviving attempts at being shot down by rifle fire, as most guards don't carry shotguns.

[Moonlight]

Blimey they won't need to use suicide bombers anymore, they can just strap some c4 onto it and send it on its way.
It won't be a good day for the intended target though, I wonder how long it will be before some buffoon tries it out, any takers on less than a year.

[Catfish]

Well why not, if no one protests against killing with drones, the folks home will find it cool to have such stuff themselves.
Laws against drones? Don't take away our freedom blahblah

[vienna]

Originally Posted by Gargamel

Radio jammer's would be ineffective in a ways.

I'm currently (slowly) building a Quadcopter of my own. The Tx/Rx system is the same for the rest of my RC stuff, so that will be easy, the rest is all off the shelf.

Where Jammers would fall short is when you start adding GPS guidance. Yes, GPS jammers do exist, but having them on all the time is not practical. I guess an on demand jammer could work though.

My Design I'm eventually building is a Automated drone, with a camera, that will follow another GPS tagged device at a given distance and altitude. Using a couple Arduino processors, The camera's auto leveling gimbal will always point the camera at the target, and the Drone will try to stay at a pre programmed (or variable through the controller) bearing on the 'target'. Hopefully this will result in very accurate and steady Camera work. I eventually plan on programming in predetermined fly-by paths.

Of course, I'll have the controller in hand if anything goes wrong.

This is all off the shelf stuff, and can be done for only a few hundred bucks.

So somebody can prepogram in a flight plan, and positions and angles to fire a gun or drop explosives. If they want to get clever, without switching hardware, they can have the navigation processor switch over to an inertial guidance system if the GPS signal is jammed.

At that point, it's pretty much down to physically bringing the thing down, and I'd put my money on the drone surviving attempts at being shot down by rifle fire, as most guards don't carry shotguns.

I think you're gonna get a call from DARPA at best or the NSA at worst

Drones are also posing another severe danger to public safety: interference with fire and law enforcement operations. I heard recently of drones giving way police positions during operations by flying over the LEOs grouping at crime scenes. A more troubling danger is drones flying over wildfire or other such large fires. Here in Southern California, we have had a number of situations where fire fighting tanker aircraft have had to abort water or fire retardant drops because civilian drones have entered the airspace, posing a danger to the aircraft. The planes and helicopters must fly very low and rather slow in order to effectively make the drops; the low altitude places them at the same level as some of the drones and the low speed makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to take evasive action if one of the drones is on a collision course. Even the pleas of local authorities for the drone owners to ground their craft during such emergencies go unheeded. All so some idiot can get footage he can try to sell to the news media (who actually haven't bought any of the footage, AFAIK) or so he can "enhance" his social media postings...

The most recent occurrence was just last week when a brushfire exploded and rushed up a hillside, jumping a highway and trapping vehicles and people on the road. The intense heat and embers caused many of the vehicles to catch fire; at least 20 vehicles were destroyed and many more damaged; in addition a number of homes were destroyed or damaged. The road is a mountain pass without access such as frontage roads causing a massive traffic stoppage around the scene and emergency vehicles could not reach the victims. An aerial drop was organized to deal with the fire but had to be postponed for nearly a half hour because drones were sighted over the area, effectively grounding the fire fighting effort. I am sure the owners of the vehicles and homes are really happy with the idiots who flew those drones...



<O>

[Betonov]

I say we bang our heads together, pool our resources, turn Jims house into a workshop and turn Subsim into a primary anti-drone technology enterprise

I see Gargamel already has the tech to make drones, he can be chief R&D.

[Catfish]

There was a self-made device in Germany, to take out the bass-boom of bypassing cars via EMP, using an old microwave oven (unfortunately this also killed the complete electronic engine management of said car, but hey ..).

But it burned itself out during the impulse.
We need something that can be used several times, not just once

[Betonov]

I was thinking more along the lines of a complex system that includes a radar to detect, a heat sensor to confirm if it's a machine or animal and a high powered laser to quickly burn the thing out of the sky. I prefer laser over gunpowder is because it strikes where you point. No balistics.
And the laser must be powerfull enough to cut plastic or heat the metal exterior to destroy the wiring behind it.

Expensive stuff, but those that will be prime targets will be able to afford 10 of them

[Jeff-Groves]

A .357 Slayer Air Gun will take anything out of the sky up to 250+ yards.
I have "No Drone Fly Zone" signs saying I will shoot them down.

[nikimcbee]

I've seen this done with paintball guns.

[Stealhead]

I'd be more concerned about a terrorist using a drone for recon. Though for offensive purposes a drone with explosives might be more their speed.

Honestly the main gates to any military base is pure suicide you'd never make it the barricades can stop a semi truck dead and then you've got the sighted machine gun positions. At one gate at Ramstein AB they had three M240s and a HUMVEE with a 240. You'd simply get cut to bits. The only option is a full assault or breaching the gates away from the main entrances.

All of this is why they target places like recruiting stations there's another soft military target I won't even mention because I doubt they are even aware of this particular type facility.

Another serious threat a drone could pose is being used as a method to desperse an aerosolized biological or chemical weapon. A group of people with just four or five equipped drones could do a lot of damage.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

I've seen this done with paintball guns.

Indeed!
But hey!...that's for namby pamby's; let go full auto:

[CCIP]

You know, given how a certain other three-letter US government agency uses drones abroad, it shouldn't be surprising that some terrorists might've already contemplated the idea of using them to shoot at people. They probably have more experience than anybody, being on the wrong end of shooty drones most of the time