The Caracas drone attack won’t be the last of its kind

On August 4th, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was reportedly attacked by two drones armed with explosives while making a speech at a public outdoor event in Caracas. The president and his entourage escaped largely unharmed, but for many, this incident introduced the idea of the potential threat from drones outside war zones. Was this the moment of reckoning the drone research community has been waiting for? The wider public was — understandably — surprised and shocked. But many drone scholars have been bracing for exactly such an attack for a while. Author and researcher Dennis M. Gormley presciently warned of the use of drones and missiles by non-state terrorist groups already in 2003. More recently, a study by N.R. Jenzen-Jones... Continue reading…