Reminds me of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CO6M2HsoIA" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CO6M2HsoIA</a><p>Which is one of the scariest things I've seen in a while. The video glosses over the fact that EMPs would probably make for a viable (if collateral-damage-inducing) defense, but still pretty terrifying.
The War Zone had a good article about the recent attacks that ISIS executed using cheap commercial drones.<p><a href="http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/7155/isis-drone-dropping-bomblet-on-abrams-tank-is-a-sign-of-whats-to-come" rel="nofollow">http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/7155/isis-drone-droppin...</a><p>The US Army has had to react by rebuilding short-range air defense capabilities. They used to be able to depend on the US Air Force to protect ground forces from aerial attack but now those days are gone.<p><a href="http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/17747/us-army-rushes-to-add-hundreds-of-stinger-missile-teams-as-threat-of-small-drones-evolves" rel="nofollow">http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/17747/us-army-rushes-to...</a>
Related: "Kill Decision" by Daniel Suarez. Talked about this exact thing. What happens when drones become so cheap and able to be armed, that a swarm of drones could come out of nowhere, commit a crime, and no one would have a clue where they came form.
What I think, is why no body weaponized aircraft model before.
Since 80's/90's small aircraft models had enough capacity to carry grenades and small explosives.<p>Also, I'm impressed that a cheap drone can use optical navigation. The last time that someone talked about it, was about it's usage on Tomahawk cruise missiles, since 80's, as a tech miracle of electronics.
I feel the headline is too attention-seeking.<p>It is natural that if one side starts to develop a new technology and employs it successfully, that the other parties will follow as well. This changes the landscape, sure. But it's not threatening. That's the normal process of development.<p>Every army is better of if they can use machines to do their attacks for them. At least between both armies this should also decrease the overall casualties I hope. I'm not so naive to assume that this would decrease civilian casualties, though.
I've always figured the Chinese, if they went to a total war footing, would be able to shift their supply/production chains to mass produce effective swarms of drones.
Drones are still a lot more expensive than a 60 or 80mm mortar tube, though. I haven't seen many drones that could put an equivalent payload on target, and unless batteries get wildly better, I don't see much advantage in range for small, home-brew drones.
Reminded me of this <a href="https://youtu.be/SNPJMk2fgJU" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/SNPJMk2fgJU</a><p>I don't think it is real, but it shows the future.
I've heard from some of my fellow Marines they were starting to get back into camouflaged outposts and such after mostly forgetting those skills in the (early) GWOT days.<p>There is nothing new under the sun.
I wonder what will happen when lasers as drone defense system becomes a reality.<p>I guess terrorists will use them against US drones, and military and commercial aircrafts.
That attack was way too sophisticated beyond the capability of any home-made effort. The attackers tried to cover it behind "home-made" veil. At any rate it threatens any conventional army.
Globally, that might not be a bad thing. The 20th Century has many examples of genocide and mass murder committed by armed State- or State-backed actors against their own population.<p>Democratizing a means of preventing that might help prevent similar atrocities in the 21st Century.<p>A second amendment for the 3D printed drone age, if you will.