Kozminski Techblog

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Introduction:

Drones are unmanned aerial vehicles, steered remotely or automatically. They have become popular since the beginning of the 21^st century, and now we can buy them in every hypermarket. 

They are used not only for entertainment, but also for scientific, military, research and advertising purposes. Despite the benefits they can bring to our lives, there are also some contraindications.

The simplest drones cost several hundred zlotys. They enable us to record videos and take pictures from the air. More advanced drones carry parcels or help with monitoring. The history of these devices began in military laboratories, and the first applications were found on the battlefield. What is more – they changed the way of warfare, and now they find more and more new civilian applications.

Actual and future advancements

The availability of drones for customers and businesses has created a market that will continue to implement technological improvements in drones for the foreseeable future. Improvements will include size, form factor, energy storage, propulsion techniques, sensors, and the ability to leverage and integrate advanced computing capabilities. Collectively, these improvements will increase the range and overall capabilities of drones, making them both more lethal and more difficult to combat.

The positives that drones bring to our lives

Drones can make our lives easier in many areas. Here are some examples of the most common uses of drones:

1. Drones are used for film production and taking photos of events, documenting various actions, showing landscape attractions.
2. They are also used to assess the condition of the infrastructure, drones help with planning and pricing of repairs, based on detailed photos of steel structures, roofs, facades, wind turbines etc.
3. When it comes to crisis situations, drones are invaluable in assessing the effects of natural disasters and planning rescue operations (they help with searching of missing people), but above all, they are increasingly used in various types of rescue operations.
4. Drone can support the fight against smog. Drones can examine the level of air pollution and determine whether it was caused by burning garbage or permitted materials. Professional drones can create air quality maps, thanks to which residents can avoid smog.
5. They help in assessing the level of plant vegetation, which allows you to reduce production costs by up to 40% by reducing the amount of fertilizers and plant protection products. Also useful in estimating damage after natural disasters.

However, these are not all the applications of drones, the development of their technical capabilities means that the places where we meet unmanned aerial vehicles are growing and the use of their potential is surprising with innovation.

The negatives that drones bring to our lives

Examples of threats

Terrorist attacks

The ease of purchasing and control of drones, as well as the possibility to test invented tasks in advance, mean that small flying devices are already used by various criminal groups.

Scenarios of terrorist attacks using civilian drones are not only analyzed by the services of individual countries, but also physically tested.

A concrete example of a terrorist threat comes from Russia, for example. In 2018, during the World Cup, Russian security services detected plans for terrorist attacks. Terrorists were planning to attack foreign fans with drones. Seven different groups making such plans were tracked at the time.

Moreover, drones have been treated as a threat at airports for a long time. Terrorist groups and those acting alone are very interested in attacking civilian air traffic.

Obtaining illegal informations through drones

-Gathering photos/videos of private events

-Industrial espionage.

-Recognition of sensitive areas in terms of the security system of the site and infrastructure.

Drone failures

Despite the introduction of various systems and automation systems, there are still accidents involving unmanned aerial vehicles. Failures can be caused by internal (such as software or sensor error) or external factors (wild animals or other unmanned platforms).

To sum up

Drones bring many conveniences to people, we can save money and time with them. They are helpful in many areas but when in wrong hands, can cause a lot of damage. Rapid advances in drone technology and their growing capabilities will unfortunately provide terrorist groups with many new ways to spread fear. 

A frightening application of drones is the distribution of chemical and biological agents, especially infectious diseases.

The advantage is on the attacker’s side. Terrorists have already started experimenting with using drones in their attacks – it would only take one high-profile attack for all terrorist groups to learn about this technology and start using it.

References:

https://ironsky.pl/zastosowanie-dronow-czyli-jakie-zastosowanie-maja-drony-we-wspolczesnym-swiecie/

https://www.dw.com/pl/komisja-europejska-ostrzega-przed-dronami-mog%C4%85-by%C4%87-broni%C4%85-terroryst%C3%B3w/a-49879795

http://www.anti-drone.pl/informacje/zagrozenia

https://www.ausa.org/publications/role-drones-future-terrorist-attacks