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LostInParadise's avatar

What happens when terrorists make use of drones?

Asked by LostInParadise (17030 points ) July 30th, 2011

They are getting cheaper and smaller. It does not take much imagination to see how they could be used in a terrorist operation. Will we be creating anti-drone drones and have drone aircraft warfare? Would this mean that developed countries are engaging in an arms race with themselves?

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13 Answers

Russell_D_SpacePoet's avatar

They will give the US forces a taste of their own medicine unfortunately. The application for drone aircraft go far beyond though.

ragingloli's avatar

I do not think it is as easy as you think it is.
You need small, high end electronics and radios to control them over large distances.
You need to know about avionics and aerodynamics, and you need to know how to build guided missiles.
And then you need to have the facilities to build all the components.
I doubt the islamic terrorists have either the specialists (scientists & engineers) nor the resources (facilities, tools, raw materials, components) to build a drone.
They can not even build their own AKs, and that is pretty simple mechanics. The best they have managed to build are some makeshift roadside bombs.

Blackberry's avatar

It obviously wouldn’t be good, but I was thinking the same as ragingloli.

josie's avatar

Because that is the way it has always been.
The first person to use a bow and arrow instead of a sword or spear had an advantage for a while. Then everybody had a bow and arrow. So somebody invented a gun, and the bow and arrow was at a disadvantage. Then everybody had a gun.
Etc. etc.

rebbel's avatar

I am pretty sure that possible potential target countries have high tech defence systems to detect and destroy said drones well in time and distant enough in order to not get hit.

CWOTUS's avatar

The threats from terrorism, while real enough, are way overblown. This is done very deliberately by politicians, military and law enforcement officials who plan to increase their own personal power (and empires, budgets and careers) based on their “ability to thwart the terrorists”. But there just aren’t that many attacks or intended attacks in the USA and other Western nations. Just enough, of course, that those people whose jobs depend on “fighting terrorism” can command more respect, money – and your personal liberty – to continue their cause.

If terrorists were so prevalent and so bent on attacking us, it would be a simple enough matter for some of them to mount some very effective attacks – both suicide and walk-away-from – involving relatively low cost and technology. It’s just not the case. The world just isn’t filled with terrorists.

flutherother's avatar

A very clever terrorist could hack into and control our drones to use against us.

SquirrelEStuff's avatar

Terrorist(n)- somebody using violence for political purposes: somebody who uses violence, especially bombing, kidnapping, and assassination, to intimidate others, often for political purposes

This word all depends on perspective. To the US, those who attacked us on 9/11 are terrorists. To those in Iraq, Afghanistan. Yemen, Libya, Pakistan, and Somalia, we are the terrorists and we are already using drones.

We really need to take a step back and examine our one-sided way of viewing foreign affairs. I’m sick of occupying countries and then when someone from one of those countries retaliates we call them a terrorist, but never listen to what they have to say, or stop to think that maybe, just maybe, we dropped some bombs on their family, and they are fighting back.
Since GI Joes were released, the US has NEVER not been in a war and look at where we are now. We blame and worry about everyone else trying to attack us, but never look within ourselves and our own government, the people who we vote in and represent us, as the source of the problems.

LostInParadise's avatar

@SquirrelEStuff , Point well taken, which brings up another angle. Suppose the U.S. builds an entire robot army, and there is every reason to believe that they are already in the process of doing this. What chance then would there be for small groups of terrorists, or freedom fighters, or whatever you want to call them?

jrpowell's avatar

Why bother with a drone. It is cheaper to forget a backpack on the bus.

incendiary_dan's avatar

Basically what it looks like when the U.S. military uses them.

woodcutter's avatar

When they hijack planeloads of people and crash them using a form of religion to motivate them…are they not drones?

mattbrowne's avatar

Nations come up with superdrones. Fighting drones. The arms industry will love it.

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