It may not be long before the United States’ supremacy in drone warfare is mitigated by other countries—and terrorist organizations—possessing the same technology.

 

It is estimated that as many as 50 countries are developing or purchasing unmanned aircraft (UAVs), including China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and Iran. Those interested in the technology include Hezbollah, which may already have drones built by Iran, which has developed one with a range of more than 600 miles.

 

“These systems are used mostly for surveillance, but it is not difficult to equip the aircraft with missiles and bombs,” writes David Cortright, director of policy studies for the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. 

 

“The virtue of most U.A.V.’s is that they have long wings and you can strap anything to them,” Dennis M. Gormley, author of Missile Contagion: Cruise Missile Proliferation and the Threat to International Security, told The New York Times.

 

Drones could soon become a weapon of choice among domestic terrorists. In September, an American in Massachusetts named Rezwan Ferdaus was arrested and accused of planning to place C-4 plastic explosives on a 5-7-foot remote-controlled pilotless aircraft and crash it into the Pentagon or the Capitol building…using equipment supplied to him by undercover FBI agents. On Monday, U.S. Judge Timothy Hillman denied bail for Ferdaus.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

The Scary Prospect of Global Drone Warfare (by David Cortright, CNN)

Coming Soon: The Drone Arms Race (by Scott Shane, New York Times)

The Science Behind The Drone Terrorism Attack (by Neal Ungerleider, Fast Company)