ON APRIL 22nd a drone carrying radioactive sand landed on the roof of the Japanese prime minister’s office in Tokyo. It was the latest of a string of incidents around the world involving small drones. Last year more than a dozen French nuclear plants were buzzed by them. In January one crashed on the White House lawn. In February and early March several were spotted hovering near the Eiffel tower and other Parisian landmarks. Later in March someone attempted to fly one full of drugs (and also a screwdriver and a mobile phone) into a British prison. The employment of drones for nefarious, or potentially nefarious, purposes thus seems to have begun in earnest. It is only a matter of time before somebody attempts to use a drone, perhaps carrying an explosive payload, to cause serious damage or injury. The question for the authorities is how to try to stop this happening.
The French government is already taking the issue seriously. In March, it held trials of anti-drone “detect and defeat” systems. These trials used two sorts of drone as targets. One was fixed-wing aeroplanes with a wingspan of up to two metres. The other sort was quadcopters—miniature...
from The Economist: Science and technology http://ift.tt/1JDMbzG
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