A team at the University of Texas successfully spoofed the GPS and took control of a DHS drone, for about $1,000 in off-the-shelf parts. Does anyone think that the bad guys won't be able to do this?
EDITED TO ADD (7/9): It wasn't a DHS drone. It was a drone owned by the university.
The first sentence talks about domestic drone use. However, later in the article, CENTCOM is mentioned along with Iraq and Afghanistan. Also, the E-8C Joint STARS is mentioned for some reason.
But it will be OK once we have a Republican president, after all like the PATRIOT act, if you aren’t an illegal or a terrorist what do you have to be afraid of /sarc
At this point, there needs to be a loud advocacy organization whose goal is to stop the use of such drones in most situations.
That is, effectively outlaw the use of drones in US airspace except for limited, unique purposes. Each use must be approved by a senior government official by name, who is personally responsible for both any misuse and any accident resulting from use.
An absolute prohibition on such aircraft being weaponized or even weapons capable.
Strict limits for use in surveillance, a lower and upper limit for airspace altitude, that such aircraft be equipped with commercial grade and broadcast range collision avoidance radio beacons that can be detected on the ground in the clear, not encrypted or on unusual frequencies.
Such drones must also be limited to only a middle range of sizes and weights. That is, no very small or very large drones. And very tight rules for the use of airship drones as well.
“Register drones, not citizens.”