Hoist by Our Own Petard

P W Singer has a must read article in Newsweek on the threat posed by unmanned aerial systems (UAS). These robotic or remote controlled aircraft have been a crucial weapon of technological advantage for the US in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, but the underlying technology is neither very difficult or expensive. The rest of the World is catching up rapidly.

The unmanned spy plane that Lebanon's Hizbullah sent buzzing over Israeli towns in 2005 was loud and weaponless, and carried only a rudimentary camera. But the surprise flight by a regional terror group still worried U.S. analysts, who saw it as a sign that the unmanned vehicles were falling into the wrong hands.

Today that concern appears to have been well founded. At least 40 other countries—from Belarus and Georgia to India, Pakistan, and Russia—have begun to build, buy, and deploy unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, showcasing their efforts at international weapons expos ranging from the premier Paris Air Show to smaller events in Singapore and Bahrain. In the last six months alone, Iran has begun production on a pair of weapons-ready surveillance drones, while China has debuted the Pterodactyl and Sour Dragon, rivals to America's Predator and Global Hawk. All told, two thirds of worldwide investment in unmanned planes in 2010 will be spent by countries other than the United States.

To date, we have been the dispensers of death from the skies, but there is a real chance that the US could be on the other end of gun - or bomb, soon.

Singer sees no evidence that Homeland Security, or the US in general, is taking the threat seriously. The US buys much of its robotic technology from abroad.