9.4 - Blog: The Future of the UAS

How to I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb dropping UAS

I know, a Dr. Strangelove reference, and Slim Pickens won't be riding on a UAS anytime soon, but it couldn’t be helped because the days are here when terror organizations weaponize commercial UAVs and use them to drop explosives. There is a crude video online with a commercial quad copter releasing a small blue explosive on an unsuspecting position (Josh, 2016). Then in October, a booby-trapped UAV reportedly exploded and two Kurdish fighters were killed and two French soldiers were wounded (Benoit, 2016). The UAV landed and after the forces approached to investigate, it detonated. Word will spread quickly and this technique will not be as effective because soldiers will destroy the UAV, rather than approach it. Other techniques will be harder to deter. First person viewing (FPV), combined with a small payload, accurately placed could be a formidable weapon. Currently available small UAS don’t carry heavy payloads, but small explosives dropped precisely can damage critical components, and the threat is likely here.

Future terror applications

It’s not hard to envision a commercial UAS, flying directly over a target, releasing an explosive, and retreating. It would be very difficult for law enforcement to track the small craft, and find the perpetrator. In fact, if the quad copter releases the explosive from high enough, no one on the ground may be aware of it at all, and would not know where bomb came from.

What about other payloads? Are releases of chemical agents much farther behind? It’s not a stretch from agricultural applications, to releasing nerve or blister agents to a small area. Again, probably not a large scale weapon, but there are many soft targets to harass.

Relatively small commercial UAVs can carry several pounds of payload, including a camera for targeting.  Even if the range is limited to a mile or less, a weapon from above is very dangerous. Consider all the outdoor events by political leaders, or sporting events, etc. The targets are almost unlimited if terror is the goal. Will a UAS deliver an IED in to a crowd (Bunker, 2015). If one UAS is effective, how about flying 50 of them to a target? How long until a small UAS, flies directly in to the path of a commercial airplane? Unfortunately, the threat options are only limited by the terrorist creativity.

Countering the threat

Anti UAS weapons are going to be needed, and sooner rather than later. A dedicated adversary will change attack strategies and no doubt adapt to counter threats, so technology and methods must be developed to target and disrupt incoming UAS attacks quickly and effectively. The Battelle systems DroneDefender claims this ability (Battelle, 2016). It reportedly interrupts the GPS and control signals, diverting or downing the attacker. The devices can be disrupted kinetically, but countering a small, relatively silent UAS will likely remain difficult for those charged with protecting civilians.

Battelle. (2016). Our Work | National Security | Tactical Systems | Battelle DroneDefender™ | Battelle. Retrieved from http://www.battelle.org/our-work/national-security/tactical-systems/battelle-dronedefender

Benoit, D. (2016, November 29). Growing fears of IS use of weaponised drones [Video file]. Retrieved from http://phys.org/news/2016-11-weaponised-drones.html

Bunker, R. J. (2015, August). TERRORIST AND INSURGENT UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES: USE, POTENTIALS, AND MILITARY IMPLICATIONS. Retrieved from https://www.oodaloop.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/pub1287.pdf

Josh. (2016, September 3). Weaponized Quad-copter Drone Drops Warheads On Foreheads [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.funker530.com/weaponized-quad-drops/

McCuley, R. (2016, October 11). Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Reaching the Tipping Point of a New Revolution in Aviation. Retrieved from http://www.govtech.com/fs/Unmanned-Aerial-Vehicles-Reaching-the-Tipping-Point-of-a-New-Revolution-in-Aviation.html