Armed Predator drone firing Hellfire missile (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In the last ten years or so, we got more and more news in the feed about the use of drones in all the major conflict zones. Acronyms like UAV or UCAV became part of our lingo and countless videos on YouTube or Vimeo showed us in full degree what happened in Afghanistan or in Iraq (or in other places) when a Hellfire missile hit its intended target on the ground.
That’s war, nothing else. With more distance put between the operator and the targets, but it’s still the same. Find an enemy, put him six feet under with 18 or 20 livres of high explosives. It’s still a nation against another nation, or a nation against an armed faction in a disputed territory. Technology change but it’s still war as we know it.
But now everybody can buy a small drone, isn’t it? And in many countries it’s not so difficult to get yourself a gun. So, add two and two and you get this.
That’s interesting. A small drone, plus a gun. Then comes into play another little thing, just to raise the stakes.
Now, this is an effected video, with a lot of gasoline added here and there for the show. And both videos may be related to some action video game. For sure, the range of such drones are far less than a Predator and the payload is very little compared to a full-sized UCAV. A pity that if you want to go in for a kill, you don’t need much.
So, the next time you will hear any news drone-related, be a little more focused about where it happens. It may be a lot closer than the Middle East. Defend ourselves from a small drone it’s not so easy. You have to spot it before it fires its weapon, then you have to hit a fast-moving target. It’s a kind of tactical nightmare for anybody, with a focus about how to deal with it in an urban environment.
I think that we will see less political or military leaders in the streets, not so far in the future. You know, bullets are forever.
Angelo Benuzzi 