Planes were used in the world wars, then we have 9/11. This is the post 9/11 era where air travel sucks so much.
Similarly:
Drones are now being used in the Russo-Ukrainian war. Eventually, there will be a “9/11” with multiple coordinated drone attacks and then the way drones are treated will be forever changed. Civillian ownership of drones will likely be heavily restricted or entirely banned.
History rhymes.
Terrorism is all about terror.
Imagine a major league football or baseball stadium packed to capacity. Two or three drones, each with a relatively small explosive charge surrounded by shrapnel fly in, crash into the spectators, and detonate. You end up with a small number of immediate casualties like what happened at the Boston Marathon. But the stampede of tens of thousands of panicking people trying to rush out of the stadium will probably injure and kill many more. Have a car bomb or two strategically located a couple blocks away where you expect those crowds to run and you’ve succeeded in your terror plans quite nicely…
We should understand anything is possible but drones complicate a simpler version of that plan that has worked many times previously.
A sports stadium is different in the sense that customers are screened for weapons before entering and escape routes are very limited. It’s a confined and defined space. Having a trash can bomb is scary, but it’s gonna be hard to stop people from going outside their homes. On the other hand, being in a specific place where drones were able to circumvent security measures? That scares people from events themselves.
There are countermeasures and protections in place against drones too.
A suicide bomber doesn’t need to escape. Inside people could plant remote detonated or timed devices between any final sweep and the start of the event.
Personally, I wouldn’t put my trust in the security theater at sporting events; not in the US at least.
The combination of security theater (metal detectors) and captive sales (no outside thermoses) makes it somewhat difficult to sneak something substantial into a closed event. As for not needing to escape, well if suicide is already on the table, then a drone operator doesn’t need to survive either.
Lol
So have you been to one of these places? Especially in a globally renowned city such as LA or NYC? Whatever hoops you’re jumping through to walk in with something sound about the same difficulty as what comes with a drone plan.
Have you tried flying a drone into any kind of protected airspace, like these places? I can engage in whataboutism too.
If you really believe it’s that hard to get into a sports stadium or other high profile event you might want to read up on Dion Rich.
Or maybe think back to the recent past about Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Maybe consider how loud and conspicuous drones actually are.
Or maybe read the US Army’s land warfare paper about drone attacks.
There might, maybe even likely will, come a day when drones can be used effectively in the manner proposed but it’s not today.