"They are cheap, they are affordable. They can be used for everything from killing terrorists to delivering packages..."
None of us should be surprised it has come to this. The technology has been there for a while. As with any technology, this technology can be used for good or nefarious purposes. It is a technology which will not go away. It is not a passing fad. It will be here forever. On the southern border, this technology is referred by some as the "blind mule".
What is it? Drones. Plain and simple drones. The advances in drone technology continues to get better and the product continues to become more affordable. Current drone technology (used for commercial drones) advertise payloads going up to slightly over five pounds. However, some manufactures say if a heavier payload is needed, they can build a more robust drone by strapping on some additional rotors.
Yesterday a drone crashed in a parking lot in Southern California. It was carrying meth. It was coming up from Mexico. This was a "blind mule". Sending drones over the border is a "no muss, no fuss" for the cartel. They are not that expensive, hard to detect, and reusable. If this idea spreads, it could let the drug intrusion over our southern border become even worse - a lot worse.
My biggest fear is not the drugs which can be snuck over the border. That is bad enough. My fear is what terrorists could put on a drone and penetrate our airspace. Things like bio weapons, chemical weapons, or in the event of drones being able to carry much heavier payloads, a small nuke.
This is just one more thing DHS planners will have to stay on top of. If we looked back five years, could anyone imagine Amazon suggesting they could deliver packages faster to your back yard using a drone? And yet that is what they are saying today. Same day delivery to your year. It begs the question, where is this technology going to be five years from now? Are we going to have our skies filled with drones, doing just about everything that could be imagined? And what about 10 years? 25 years? The brave new world could be unfolding right before our eyes.
More on this in the future. More on the most recent advances in nanotechnology also. And robotics. With everything else going on today, these important stories often go unreported.
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