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

[Onkel Neal]

A dangerous new world of drones

Without an international framework governing the use of drone attacks, the United States is setting a dangerous precedent for other nations with its aggressive and secretive drone programs in Pakistan and Yemen, which are aimed at suspected members of al Qaeda and their allies.

Just as the U.S. government justifies its drone strikes with the argument that it is at war with al Qaeda and its affiliates, one could imagine that India in the not too distant future might launch such attacks against suspected terrorists in Kashmir, or China might strike Uighur separatists in western China, or Iran might attack Baluchi nationalists along its border with Pakistan.



This moment may almost be here. China took the United States by surprise in November 2010 at the Zhuhai Air Show, where it unveiled 25 drone models, some of which were outfitted with the capability to fire missiles.

Psst: they're still talking only about military drones....


...oops, wait, they are onto the real danger now.

States are not alone in their quest for drones. Insurgent groups, too, are moving to acquire this technology. Last year, Libyan opposition forces trying to overthrow the dictator Moammar Gadhafi bought a sophisticated surveillance drone from a Canadian company for which they paid in the low six figures.
You can even buy your own tiny drone on Am

azon for $250. (And for an extra $3.99, you can get next-day shipping.)

Oh dang!

As drone technology becomes more widely accessible, it is only a matter of time before well-financed drug cartels acquire them. And you can imagine a day in the not too distant future where armed drones are used to settle personal vendettas.

[Oberon]

The trick comes in hijacking drones. For the smaller off-the-shelf drones it's as easy as finding the right radio frequency but for complicated military drones it's a little bit harder. Note, I said little because it can still be done by a group of university researchers and/or by the Iranians:
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18643134

So, when you can hijack a signal, you can block a signal. I would wager that around about now they are working on ways to block signals to drones, which can then be rolled into a system that blocks the operators signals and replaces them with your own. Thus turning the drone that was going to kill you, into a weapon you can use against the people trying to kill you.

Of course, such technology isn't going to be available off the shelf, but it will probably trickle down the systems of those in organised crime if drone warfare does take off in the cities, and also it will probably become available to law enforcement officers as well...knowing the way that equipment requisition in the forces happens, it will probably happen some time after the organised crime get their hands on it.

The problem comes when drones are used as 'suicide' weapons. Take a drone, load it with explosives, fit an impact trigger. Hover it at about 100 ft above your target and then cut the engines. Sit back and enjoy the fireworks. That could be a little hard to work against as you're not only having to override the control signal, you're having to do so before the drone hits the ground/roof/car/whatever.

Then again, this technology isn't exactly new:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...model-car.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goliath_tracked_mine

And I'm sure that more people have used RC cars as tracked mines in wars somewhere. They would be daft not to.

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by Oberon

And I'm sure that more people have used RC cars as tracked mines in wars somewhere.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

Danke, although I was thinking more something like this:



with some remote triggered plastic explosive in it. Of course, you'd have to make sure the frequency of the detonator and the RC weren't the same otherwise it would be very embarrasing when you told it to drive forward...

That is a very impressive little bit of kit though, I did love some of the stuff that the Libyan freedom fighters were coming up with. Some very clever people there.

[August]

Imagine a robot the size of a bee with a bee's agility. Give it a stinger filled with a deadly poison and fly it into the neck of an unsuspecting victim. It'd be the ultimate in precision guided munitions. You could even watch the attack unfold from a bee sized surveillance drone sitting on a wall or tree branch nearby.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by August

Imagine a robot the size of a bee with a bee's agility. Give it a stinger filled with a deadly poison and fly it into the neck of an unsuspecting victim. It'd be the ultimate in precision guided munitions. You could even watch the attack unfold from a bee sized surveillance drone sitting on a wall or tree branch nearby.

That's the next step I'd wager.

Funny, back in the 1990s there was a British TV drama called 'Bugs', it was quite good:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugs_(TV_series)
One episode even had a Russian sub in it!

However, the episode I'm thinking of (and this being the internet, here it is: ) had tiny 'seeker' darts which honed in on a targets DNA for the kill. There were also small explosives which were able to camoflage themselves when placed on a surface which they then stuck to. Can't remember if they were in the same episode or another one.

[frau kaleun]

I knew I hated bees for a reason.

[JU_88]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Ask again the next time I say something unpopular, or something critical of technology.

Imagine you would have listened to me when in a angry dispute with Subman back then I said that as an emergency treasure for hard times, solid gold beats stocks, paper and coins hands down, always, and since always. The value you would have invested in buying real gold back then (some years pre 2008), by now would have almost increased five-fold, the price since then went from 450 or so, to 2000. You would possibly be a rich man today.

Well its still not too late to jump on the gold bandwagon, it would be a very smart move for anyone right now.

[Onkel Neal]

Israeli army fears drones will be used to hit strategic sites

After Israeli fighter jets shot down a drone over the Yatir forest in the south Mount Hebron area on Saturday, the army is trying to figure out what its destination was. One of the possibilities the security establishment is looking into is that the unmanned aircraft, which was apparently Iranian-made, was on its way to test the option of infiltrating the nuclear reactor in Dimona, perhaps even to examine the option of targeting the plant in a future conflict.

Yes, I know this news item has already been posted.

[Onkel Neal]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24036964

German police say they have seized a "functional" bomb and several model airplanes that neo-Nazis planned to use against political enemies.

A man with links to far-right extremists was arrested on suspicion of commissioning the bomb, police in the south-western city of Freiburg say.

It would have caused serious injury within a radius of 30 metres, they add.

According to official figures, neo-Nazis committed more than 800 violent crimes in Germany last year.

The flying bomb was discovered last week after police raided the homes of four suspects and a neo-Nazi meeting place in the city following a tip-off, officials say.

[Tchocky]

Trust the Germans for flying-bomb innovation

[Red October1984]

I knew somebody was going to try that sometime!

Seems like a brilliant idea...but then, why do people fly model planes down the street?

[Wolferz]

Captain Hindsight to the rescue with ifs ands and buts.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Tchocky

Trust the Germans for flying-bomb innovation

They could have at least put a pulse jet engine on it, for the full experience.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Oberon

They could have at least put a pulse jet engine on it, for the full experience.

"We don't know where it's going to go...but it's gonna GO!"