China’s Lost Drones are Infiltrating America by James Carlini

September 28, 2018

James Carlini writes about the Internet of Things. This article was published September 5, 2018 It is about the fascination of Drones as a toy as well as practical uses of DRONES.

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Drones are a very popular “new toy” for many in the United States. They are used by both hobbyists as well as professionals across a myriad of industries to accomplish many tasks from aerial and building photography to pipeline inspections, facilities surveillance and security.

They are already being weaponized and have been used by terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq since 2016. It was documented back in 2016 that 32 different types of drones manufactured in six different countries were being used on Middle East battlefields.
Today, that number is growing and the battlefields are not limited to the Middle East. Why? Ease of re-purposing these products and weaponizing them is becoming a force multiplier for small forces and terrorist groups around the world in asymmetrical warfare. Although the drones are not sold in the Middle East, they are being sold to various factions that sell to that region, as well as others, through third parties.
The recent August 2018 attack in Venezuela where there was an attempt on the life of President Maduro, shows the increased use of drones as a new weapon to take down political rivals. Attacks on individuals are on the rise. Drones are an affordable weapon and ones that is not easily defeated.
Can a civilian drone be used as a weapon?
When it comes to Americans using their drones for aerial cameras or other hobbies, one out-of-ten “get lost” on their initial flight.
So if we have 500,000 drones that have been sold in the United States, ten percent of them (50,000) could already be employed this way and all the owners think they just simply “lost them into the wind” and cannot find them. Could they have been intercepted? A scary thought.
The actual “lost drone” numbers are more staggering than that.

In a Fortune article back in January 2017, FAA Chief Administrator, Michael Huerta, said that the FAA projects that nearly 7 million drones may be sold in the United States by 2020, or “about two-and-a-half times the population of the state of Nevada.” Take ten percent of that projected 7,000,000 and you have a very formidable amount of “flying reconnaissance vehicles” (700,000). Their original owners have written them off as “lost,” but what if they are not?

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