Could this be the year of the first terrorist attack carried out by a portable drone, perhaps equipped with an explosive warhead? It might be. It is almost certainly a real hypothesis for a technology that until recently belonged exclusively to the world superpowers.
The point is precisely this: only the US, Russia and China, for example, have the resources to build low observability systems, but literally anyone can buy a small drone. The examples, as noted by Defense Tech, are wasted. Switchblade eg. Made by AeroVironment Inc., Switchblade weighs less than five pounds. Its electric propulsion makes it almost silent. Launched from a simple cylinder, it extends its wings and has a range of ten minutes. It is equipped with a color / infrared camera that allows the remote operator to identify a target. Once the target is chosen and locked, the Switchblade launches at 90mph with a warhead powerful enough to pulverize a multi-ton pickup truck. The future implementation of several ground-based combat unit systems could give them the ability to decimate opponents from a distance.
Public opinion has been accustomed to recognizing the "Reaper" and believing they were the main architects of raids in crisis areas. Few know, however, that in Afghanistan alone in Operation Enduring Freedom, the US has deployed over four thousand Switchblade.
Some of the largest defense contractors on the planet participate in the Pentagon's “Lethal Miniature Aerial Munition System” program. Textron Inc. with its flying bomb "Battlehawk" and Lockheed Martin with its "Terminator". The Israelis also participate in the program, with the Hero-30 (photo) produced by uVision. Heavy three kilos, Hero-30 has a 500 gram warhead and a range of 40 km.
Drone technology has not long been the sole concern of the military. For a few hundred euros, anyone can buy a stabilized drone equipped with an HD camera and GPS. The ready availability of this type of technology blurs the line between military and commercial electronics. The same technology, for example that used in mobile phones, is already implemented in drones. Without considering, finally, that a commercial drone does not necessarily have to be equipped with an explosive warhead to create a potential disaster. It would be foolish, in fact, not to fear the "remote" possibility that someone could direct a small drone purchased a few minutes earlier at Duty Free, against a turbine of an airplane in the process of taxiing or taking off. The fact that it is such a "stupid" hypothesis does not mean that it is not feasible and potentially disastrous.
The implementation of explosives on low-cost devices, in some cases is only a detail. L'Improvised Air Threat it does not necessarily have to be armed.
(photo: uVision / video: AeroVironment)
