Non-State Actors Against British Tar-
gets," issued in January of this year, the
authors comment:
"Ever-more advanced drones capable
of carrying sophisticated imaging
equipment and significant payloads are
readily available in the civilian market.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) cur-
rently present the greatest risk because
of their capabilities and widespread
availability, but developments in un-
manned ground (UGVs) and marine
vehicles (UMVs) are opening up new
avenues for hostile groups to exploit."
www.remotecontrolproject.org
The paper comments that terrorist, in-
surgent, criminal and corporate activist
groups have already used drones for at-
tacks as well as surveillance. It details the
capabilities of popular retail drones, along
with incidents of their use. It ends with an
inventory of the counter-measures avail-
able to authorities, divided amongst regu-
latory provisions, passive countermeasures
such as signals jamming, and active mea-
sures, such as laser systems.
the time to act is now
Although drones are already available and
sophisticated, we are at the front-end of
the development and use curve, so assess-
ing the danger is partly speculative. It is
very likely, unfortunately, that the danger
will not be theoretical for much longer.
Canada shares a vulnerability to drone
attacks with other countries, although we
may not be as far along in detailing the
dangers and the possible counter-mea-
sures. It is possible that if insurgent groups
like the Islamic State become more adept
t
taLKIng TECH
www.vanguardcanada.com APRIL/MAY 2016 19
Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems Canada
R O YA L C A N A D I A N
NAVY
PR O U D LY S U PPO RTI N G TH E
www.seaspan.com
Building Canada's Maritime Future through the Government of
Canada's National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS).
at using drones, then returned fighters
will bring drone tactics back with them to
Canada.
Canada's military, policing, intelligence,
and security forces are already stretched by
the need to upgrade domestic anti-terror-
ist capabilities, and meet overseas obliga-
tions. We are not yet at the point where
the threat from drones has become real in
Canada. Now is the ideal time to treat the
threat seriously, and take steps to under-
stand and minimize it.
greg Fyffe is president of Canadian As-
sociation Security and Intelligence Studies
(CASIS). greg was executive director of the
Intelligence Assessment Secretariat from
2000 to 2008, and currently teaches intel-
ligence and security and strategic thinking
at the University of ottawa.
