Yeah this would be pretty bad. I'm not sure how you'd defend against this, other than relying on the fact that generally terrorists are pretty incompetent.
http://primetime.unrealitytv.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/0...
That required serious patience and skill on the model building front. It required decent understanding of the radio, setting up the servos and trimming for flight, and to be honest the damn things (planes) are hard to fly at first. (RC helicopters border on impossible!) You also needed to find a field with room to practice take off and landing, etc.
Today I can buy a pre-built quad-copter that can fly for 15-20 minutes with no assembly required. It's stabilized and ridiculously easy to start flying. I can practice for hours in private (in my living room, or back yard). That same quad copter can be given an autonomous course to follow, becoming a "fire and forget" delivery vehicle which can be discretely launched far enough away from a target to be completely unobserved.
What if I load it up with as much anthrax as it can carry and set up a timed trigger to open the bag as it flies over a crowded festival, protest or some other gathering? How many victims would result from the downwash at 30' above ground level?
I don't think this can be solved with legislation to be honest (you won't ever be able to stop a bad actor from getting the equipment, and bad actors will not register their gear). I also don't think this is a nightmare scenario - but I do think it's a legitimate concern we should be talking about.
Apologies, I know we're not meant to be snarky here, and sarcasm rarely forwards a conversation in a useful direction, but this comment really struck me as silly, as you are proposing the solution to protecting people from random bad actors who might buy a quad copter is "make the world peaceful and remove motivation for personal harm". That does not seem possible. People should have access to good healthcare and social equality, but that is orthogonal to this conversation (IMHO).
It's a heck of a lot more possible than perfect security without putting everyone into padded cells, alone. Some countries in Northern Europe are evidence of this, as are declining crime rates after the banning of leaded gasoline and legalization of abortion.
If you want to solve a problem, solve it at its roots. Focusing on the symptoms instead of the disease is a harmful attitude that is far too prevalent in America and elsewhere.
At least i hope were learning.
See: Boko Haram, the Taliban's reaction to buildout of civilian communications infrastructure in the backwaters of Afghanistan, etc.
Nothing quite like America coming in to your home, insulting your religion and customs, and eroding your ownership of your women to motivate you to attack it.
The price of peace is leaving horrible people alone when they do horrible things to other people.
I am surprised that todays terrorists haven't tried to emulate the IRA and use timed diy mortar's back in the day they very nearly hit the cabinet at no 10
In fact, you just need to leave a backpack with a pressure cooker with some nails and explosives like in Boston. No need for complicated technology and millions invested to try and counter this.
These are by no means significant deterrents but a drone is free to go anywhere, anytime with right now nothing to stop them.
Today or in the near future, plant a bomb anywhere in public in a city and you're likely to end up on camera.
If a terrorist can accomplish the same outcome while not killing their self (suicide), they get to keep killing; it net lowers the cost of terrorism dramatically. The biggest cost in suicide bombings directed at the developed world, is getting the bomb carrying person into location (immigration, housing), feeding the person, and the time it takes to arrange it all. Drones mean you bring one person in, and they get to take action potentially numerous times.
Shakers in the 18th century made some of (in my opinion) the most beautiful wooden furniture with simple hand tools. But each piece took ages to produce and finish.
Now we have power tools and inexpensive stains and finishing products that dry quickly. The output of a legion of Shaker craftsmen can be matched by a single moderately skilled woodworker today.
Similarly, the fact that attacks were successful without drones doesn't mean that cheap, commonly available drones can't make it easier to do lots of damage. Nobody says you need these items to make a successful attack, just that they have the potential to make a bad attack much worse. Not to consider this while implementing countermeasures is irresponsible at best.
Leaving the bags is arguably easier to do.
Jamming, RQ170 ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93U.S._RQ-170_incid...