Aardvark Daily

Please visit the sponsor!

Bad news for fun

The war in Ukraine has certainly showcased the military value of drones.

In this war theatre we're seeing a wide range of drones being used for a wide range of military activities both in the air and on the water.

Ukraine has scored some noteworthy hits by using its marine drones to take out bridges and inflict significant damage against the Russian Navy with surprising accuracy and effectiveness.

In the air, regular consumer quadcopter drones have been put into action as aerial surveilance and reconnaissance platforms or as a method of dropping grenades and other high explosives with pin-point accuracy.

And, as with all things technology-based, it appears as if the price of these uncrewed craft is getting lower every day.

The Raytheon Tomahawk cruise missile that was used to such great effect in the Gulf War had a price of around US$2,000,000 per unit. Some of the very effective GPS-guided drones being used in and by Ukraine cost over two orders of magnitude less.

These modern, low-cost cruise-missile alternatives are creating strategic benefits to both sides, allowing low-risk attacks to be launched against even the best-defended targets.

In the most recent attacks against Moscow, experts are claiming that the lower-speed and smaller size of the craft used have allowed them to fly "under the radar" of Russia's air defense system. This happened because the radar systems are deliberately tuned in a way that ignores smaller/slower objects on the premise that they are probably just birds and as such present no threat.

The rapid uptake of drone technologies by super and minor powers alike is causing some major rethinking within the halls of military power. The phrase "aerial superiority" is gaining a new meaning in an era where things that fly are now very cheap and control from a distance reduces the risks associated with their use.

Unfortunately I fear that we're about to see some rather unfortunate side-effects as a result of the very clear demonstration that this tech has significant military application.

Once popular and "wholesome" hobbies have already been decimated by public paranoia and unjustified fear. Those hobbies are now about to be utterly crushed by governments who will likely see them as a threat to the rule of law and the safety of citizens.

Yeah, I'm talking about RC planes, drones and now perhaps even RC model boats.

The justification for further crack-downs, regulation, restriction and licensing for these hobbies and their participants will be one of "public safety" and "national security".

A poorly educated and easily duped public will support such changes because they won't be told or will ignore the fact that a military drone with armaments and the ability to kill is significantly different to a foam model of a Piper Cub or a quadcopter designed to get wonderful panoramic shots of our best scenery.

Every drone/RC operator will be painted as a potential terrorist just as certain groups have done their best to paint all firearms owners as potential nut-jobs who could go berserk at any moment and therefore ought not be allowed any rifle that might automatically reload or hold more than a few rounds of ammo in its magazine.

The reality however, despite the inevitable spin, hype and propaganda, is that the toys we're talking about are incredibly safe. At the time of writing this column, not one single person in the entire history of mankind, across the entire face of the planet, has ever died as the result of the recreational use of a multi-rotor drone. This is an inconvenient fact that few in the halls of power are willing to acknowledge or promulgate -- because it doesn't fit the narrative they wish to create.

How crazy is it that recreational drones and RC models increasingly require registration, licensing and built-in remote identification/tracking systems, despite their impeccable record of safety. Meanwhile, people die almost every day around the world as the result of stab-wounds but knives remain free to purchase without restriction at your local supermarket or department store.

Indeed, if you check the "kit" of your average soldier in a war theatre you'll find that as well as their rifle, the're also issued... a knife!

What a tragic world we live in... where politicians and bureaucrats feel that it's okay to create hysteria and fear in order to increase the amount of power they weild over those who they are supposed to be serving.

Watch for these changes right here in New Zealand, where the Ministry of Transport has plans to introduce registration, a form of licensing and remote ID/tracking for RC planes and recreational drones. As soon as the government stops losing ministers at an alarming rate and finally settle on a Minister of Transport who lasts more than a few months, these changes will be enacted.

Once this happens, your toys will be viewed as weapons and those who use them as potential terrorists. What a nasty place the world is becoming.

Carpe Diem folks!

Please visit the sponsor!

PERMALINK to this column

Rank This Aardvark Page

Change Font