How Terrorists Are Using Drones to Threaten the US

Drones and Terrorism: A Growing Threat to U.S. Security

Drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), have grown in popularity as technology has advanced (Bamford, 2016). Only the United States and a few other countries could produce, use, or sell drones for commercial and other uses decades ago. Currently, “86 countries have drones, 19 of which are armed” (Bamford, 2016, para. 1). In other words, the hegemony held by the United States and a few other countries in the manufacturing and usage of drones has ended. Drones can now be manufactured, used, and sold in a variety of countries. This shift has raised the risk of militants using technologies to target the United States in a variety of ways. Overall, the rise popularity of drones pose a terrorist threat to the U.S. as evident in increased cases of the use of drones to drop mass destruction bombs, spread propaganda, carry automatic guns, and monitor security laxities in the country.

The Threat to Aviation Safety

The use of drones threatens the U.S security in various ways. First thing, increased cases of near-collisions between passenger airplanes and drones in the U.S. create a loophole for terrorists to attack passenger aircraft and cause mass casualties. Private pilots, air-traffic controllers, and commercial airlines in the U.S. reported more than 25 cases in which small drones came at high speed or flew a few feet thus nearly crashing large passenger aircrafts in 2014 (Harris, 2016). Most of the incidences occurred during landing and takeoffs at the country’s busy airports. These cases present a threat to aviation safety since terrorists’ drones can fly to such areas without being noticed and crash passenger aircrafts. It is unfortunate that such cases have increased the time the Federal Aviation Administration has opened the country’s skies to many aircrafts controlled remotely. Collisions cases between drones and large aircrafts mean that drone flights are not well monitored in the country. Terrorists can use this tactic and aircraft traffic security laxity to attack U.S.’s passenger airplanes.

Bombs and Mass Destruction

Terrorists can also use drones to carry and drop bombs and other mass destruction weapons in the U.S. According to Bronskill (2016), there are various terrorist groups with drones in the Middle East. These groups include Hamas, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, Iraq, and Hezbollah. These groups pose threats to the U.S. as terrorists can decide to use drones in revenge attacks against the U.S. Bronskill (2016) warns that these terrorist groups can easily carry and drop bombs in the U.S. given the challenges associated with monitoring of drones which can travel at very high speed. For example, Hezbollah dropped two bombs from what experts claimed to be a modified commercial drone in Syria in 2016. This case is an indication of similar incidences which might follow in years and decades to come in the U.S. and other countries opposed to terrorism.

Easy Drone Acquisition

Moreover, buying a drone that can carry a bomb is far easier than the purchase of a gun which requires proving who an individual is and registering (Micklewaite, 2016). Although the U.S. has introduced drone registration, other countries such as Syria have not yet introduced this security measure. Therefore, terrorists can still acquire drones in Syria and other states and use them against the U.S. Security experts warn that “Islamic States are ”reportedly obsessed with launching a synchronized multi-attack on large numbers of people“ (Bamford, 2016, para. 3). As such, terrorists can buy the drones in such countries and use them to drop bombs in the U.S.

Drones as Weapons

Drones are also being used to carry semi-automatic guns implying that they can shoot while flying. According to Griffin (2015), a drone with semi-automatic guns strapped in it was discovered in the UK in 2015. Experts explain that, once the weapon is fired, the aircraft ”shoots backward from the recoil then gets ready to fire again“ (Griffin, 2015, para. 3). Unfortunately, it is hard to inspect all drones flying in the U.S. to determine what they carry. Therefore, terrorists can put several semi-automatic or even automatic guns in drones and use them to shoot people in different places in the country. Indeed, it is worrying that drones can easily be turned into weapons of mass destruction yet it is already late to ban such technology given its contribution to save lives in mass casualties among other constructive uses.

Spreading Propaganda

In addition, terrorists can use UAVs to spread propaganda in the U.S. and create fear. Bolton (2016) warns that terrorists can use drones to spread propaganda. The reporter mentioned a recent incident which took place in Belgrade during Albania-Serbia Euro qualifying match in 2016 (Bolton, 2016). Unidentified individual flew a drone that carried a pro-Albania banner into the field. The incident led to chaos between spectators, team officials, players, and resulted in the abandonment of the match (Bolton, 2016). The U.S. is not exceptional to such cases. It is important to note that drones have become common and cheap to buy. According to Bolton (2016), the cost of a drone has gone down to as little as £100. As such, terrorist groups or even individual terrorists can afford a drone to ferry materials to any place in the U.S. to spread propaganda.

Monitoring Security Laxity

The other challenge is that it might be hard to stop a material such as a flag being flown. Despite the fact that model airplanes have been around for many years, drones can fly slowly, hover, land, and take off vertically thus making them useful for terrorist filmmakers and photographers. Although the U.S. restricts the use of drones in some places, it is still easy for terrorists to fly drones over other areas and spread harmful propaganda whose impacts can reach restricted zones.

Last but not least important, terrorists can use drones to monitor security laxity in the U.S. or areas they can cause mass destruction. For example, a drone was observed hovering around the Olympic ski in 2014 (Taillon, 2015). Terrorists used the drone to transmit live video of snowboarding and ski jumping competitors. Unlike in such cases where the drones are used for constructive purposes and are monitored and remote controlled, terrorists can use the same tactic to monitor congested areas and drop bombs or shoot people (Taillon, 2015). Although the U.S has put considerable efforts to control the use of this technology, it is hard to ensure total control due to its commercial availability.

The Growing Threat

In conclusion, the increase in the popularity of drones throughout the world poses a significant terrorist threat to the U.S. as evident in rising cases of the deployment of drones to spread propaganda, drop bombs, carry automatic guns, and monitor security situations. Currently, many countries can make the aircrafts and sell them cheaply for commercial uses. Such increased use of the technology has made it difficult to monitor. As such, terrorists can now access and use the technology to attack the U.S.

References

Bamford, J. (2016, April 28). Terrorists have drones now. Thanks, Obama. Foreign Policy. Retrieved from http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/04/28/terrorists-have-drones-now-thanks-obama-warfare-isis-syria-terrorism/

Bolton, D. (2016, December 6). Terrorists could use drones to attack planes and spread propaganda, government security adviser warns. Independent. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/drone-terrorist-attack-isis-propaganda-colin-smith-a6762411.html

Bronskill, J. (2016, December 5). Copycat terrorists could use drone to attack plane, intelligence report warns. CBC News. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/drone-attacks-terrorists-intelligence-report-1.3881453

Griffin, A. (2015, July 16). Video showing home-made drone with gun that’s able to fire leads to fears quadcopters could be banned. Independent. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/video-showing-home-made-drone-with-gun-attached-and-able-to-fire-leads-to-fears-quadcopters-could-be-10393934.html

Harris, M. (2016, March 25). Near misses between drones and airplanes on the rise in US, says FAA. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/25/near-misses-between-drones-and-airplanes-on-the-rise-in-us-finds-faa

Micklewaite, J. (2016, July 28). Isis ’could use drones to carry out terror attacks in UK’. Evening Standard. Retrieved from http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/isis-could-use-drones-to-carry-out-terror-attacks-in-uk-a3306741.html

Taillon, P., B. (2015). The evolving terror threat posed by aerial platforms. The Mackenzie Institute. Retrieved from http://mackenzieinstitute.com/evolving-terror-threat-posed-aerial-platforms/