According to various sources, from soldiers to BBC journalists, there has been a growing problem with modified consumer drones being used to mount attacks in Iraq. Apparently they have been modified to drop 40mm grenades with a reasonable amount of precision. From the articles that I have read, and the people I have spoken to, these things are notable:
There have been hundreds of attacks on the Iraqi army, using consumer drones modified to carry 40mm rifle grenades.
The attacks have mostly been ineffective, but there have been a handful of high impact results such as an entire APC crew being killed when a drone managed to drop a grenade through a hatch.
The fear of the drone attacks is far higher than the threat rationally requires. Apparently, on first sighting of a drone, almost everybody with automatic weapons in the near area opens fire en masse. There have been few, if any, reports of successful shoot downs of drones. The Iraqi army has had little or no luck shooting them down with automatic gun fire or sniper rifles. There have even been reported instances of drones taking a hit and being able to land safely.
Most of the drones used in these attacks are modified DJI drones, both Mavics and Phantoms. Captured Islamic State bases have been found to have hundreds of spare parts.
Given that the only successful attacks to date have been on heavily populated stationary vehicles, I suspect this is the reason why the authorities are super twitchy about drone activity around UK airports. Drones in airfields are not a new thing. This happened in the past, without runway shutdowns. Rightly or wrongly. The 9/11 hijackers conducted dry runs before the big day after all.
I fully appreciate that I am subscribing to a conspiracy theory with no real evidence. I just find it very odd that the media aren't speculating about a link between drone use by IS and what is going on over here. When have you ever known the tabloid press to miss out on a good bit of hysteria stoking?
Seems like a timely opportunity to post this.
According to various sources, from soldiers to BBC journalists, there has been a growing problem with modified consumer drones being used to mount attacks in Iraq. Apparently they have been modified to drop 40mm grenades with a reasonable amount of precision. From the articles that I have read, and the people I have spoken to, these things are notable:
There have been hundreds of attacks on the Iraqi army, using consumer drones modified to carry 40mm rifle grenades.
The attacks have mostly been ineffective, but there have been a handful of high impact results such as an entire APC crew being killed when a drone managed to drop a grenade through a hatch.
The fear of the drone attacks is far higher than the threat rationally requires. Apparently, on first sighting of a drone, almost everybody with automatic weapons in the near area opens fire en masse. There have been few, if any, reports of successful shoot downs of drones. The Iraqi army has had little or no luck shooting them down with automatic gun fire or sniper rifles. There have even been reported instances of drones taking a hit and being able to land safely.
Most of the drones used in these attacks are modified DJI drones, both Mavics and Phantoms. Captured Islamic State bases have been found to have hundreds of spare parts.
Given that the only successful attacks to date have been on heavily populated stationary vehicles, I suspect this is the reason why the authorities are super twitchy about drone activity around UK airports. Drones in airfields are not a new thing. This happened in the past, without runway shutdowns. Rightly or wrongly. The 9/11 hijackers conducted dry runs before the big day after all.
I fully appreciate that I am subscribing to a conspiracy theory with no real evidence. I just find it very odd that the media aren't speculating about a link between drone use by IS and what is going on over here. When have you ever known the tabloid press to miss out on a good bit of hysteria stoking?