Drones and Terrorism by Grossman Nicholas;

Author:Grossman, Nicholas;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
Published: 2019-02-26T16:00:00+00:00

SMALL, COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE DRONES AND TERRORIST STRATEGY

Like many other technologies, as UAVs become more ubiquitous, they will become cheaper and easier to acquire. As with computers, cell phones, and other information technology, commercially available drones will end up enhancing the capabilities of terrorist and insurgent networks. Insurgent organizations could use information-gathering drones to monitor counterinsurgent troop movements, helping them set up ambushes or avoid raids. Terrorists and saboteurs could scout the security of potential targets to determine the ideal time and location to strike. Or they could simply load a drone with explosives and fly it into something. This would fulfill a similar function as a car bomb, but it could fly over barriers, and would not require sacrificing a driver. Unfortunately, it would not be surprising if, in the next decade or two, a terrorist loaded a commercial drone with explosive material and tried to crash it into a building, bridge, or crowded area in the United States or another economically developed country.

The FBI has already thwarted one such attack in the planning stage. In July 2012, Rezwan Ferdaus, an American citizen who was born in Massachusetts and received a degree in physics from Northeastern University, pleaded guilty to charges of attempting to destroy or damage a federal building and providing material support to terrorists.79 Ferdaus was arrested in September 2011 after outlining his plan—in which he intended to crash drones loaded with explosives into United States landmarks including the Pentagon and the Capitol building—to FBI agents posing as Al Qaeda operatives, and accepting delivery of hand grenades, AK-47s, and C-4 plastic explosives. Ferdaus had designed and built cell phone-triggered detonators, obtained a remote-controlled replica of an F-86 Sabre using a false name, and scouted locations in Washington DC from which to launch the planes.80 Modeled after the 1950s-era fighter jet, the F-86 replica is almost three feet long, requires extensive assembly, and retails for under $200.81 Though authorities stopped this planned attack before it advanced to the execution stage, it presages the possibility of similar attempts in the future.

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