Image free to use, per FAA site here: https://www.faa.gov/uas/no_drone_zone/
Like most people, I suspect, when quadcopters first appeared my first thoughts were about how totally cool they are followed by, “Gee, what could I do with one?” So it’s not surprising that terrorists have asked the same question and have come up with an obvious answer: Make flying Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Devices (RC-IEDs), which the U.S. Central Command believes they are already working on and have possibly developed.
IEDs have been extraordinarily deadly threats to the U.S. and coalition forces and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan for more than a decade, and attacks have actually been increasing. In Iraq alone there were 11,500 IED explosions last year causing 35,000 casualties, followed by 8,000 explosions and 12,000 casualties in Afghanistan, and 4,000 explosions and 5,400 casualties in Syria. All the IEDS were buried in the sand and remotely controlled. Adding the ability to fly them to a target is chilling.
It is also pretty simple to sneak an IED into an area as well, as they fly low and have a tiny radar cross-section, making them invisible to most radars, as was demonstrated in January when a government employee flew a quadcopter undetected onto White House grounds where it crashed into a tree. Even a midrange quadcopter can carry a 6-lb C4 explosive payload, and high-end quadcopters and fixed-wing planes can cover non-line-of-sight distances aided by GPS, allowing pilots to be undetected.
Even the bad guys have easy access to quadcopters and the technical competence to arm, fly, and remotely detonate these aircraft. Terrorists no longer use salvaged munitions and mobile phones and TV remote controls to detonate them. They have also established global networks that provide everything needed for industrial-scale IED production.
Obviously, model airplanes and quadcopters are terrific for hobbyists and extremely useful for search and rescue and other missions but unlike in years past, anything available to you and me is also available throughout the world to people with deadly intentions.
Video 1: Space Needle Aerial Drone Footage In Seattle—Youtube.com
It’s no wonder the FAA now requires all drones over about a half a pound (250g) to be registered in the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) registry. If it weighs more than 55 lb., then it has to be registered with the Aircraft Registry process. Flying an unregistered drone outside that weighs more than .55 lb. can bring criminal and civil penalties. It costs $5 to register a drone with the FAA. The Wild West days of flying your camera drone around the Seattle Space Needle on a whim are over; you need paperwork for that. Lots of it.
Barry Manz is president of Manz Communications, Inc., a technical media relations agency he founded in 1987. He has since worked with more than 100 companies in the RF and microwave, defense, test and measurement, semiconductor, embedded systems, lightwave, and other markets. Barry writes articles for print and online trade publications, as well as white papers, application notes, symposium papers, technical references guides, and Web content. He is also a contributing editor for the Journal of Electronic Defense, editor of Military Microwave Digest, co-founder of MilCOTS Digest magazine, and was editor in chief of Microwaves & RF magazine.