NEWSWEEK.COM 23
MILITARYtargeting the U.S. Capitol, the concept of an aerial
suicide raid had largely been confined in the na-
tional consciousness to Japanese kamikaze pilots in
World War II. When nearly 3,000 were killed on Sep-
tember 11, 2001, that memory again became a reality.
Shortly after 9/11, the United States became the
first country to truly weaponize drones, fitting
them with precision missiles that became a staple
of the “War on Terror.” In the years since, drones
have evolved from high-end military technology to
commercial devices for a variety of industries as
well as hobby items flown by enthusiasts across the
globe and sold by a multitude of companies on the
civilian market. With the explosion of this seem-
ingly innocent innovation has come a rise in nefar-
ious usage that the U.S. military official with whom
Newsweek spoke describes as “an emergent threat”
already demonstrated in several high-profile events.
One such event came on November 7 when
three explosive-laden UAS, believed to be simple
commercially available quadcopter models, target-
ed the residence of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa
al-Kadhimi in an assassination attempt. Kadhimi
lived, but photos of his home revealed the destruc-
tive capabilities of such devices. Kadhimi was not
the first world leader to be preyed upon by bomb-
rigged UAS. In August 2018, two drones carrying ex-
plosives detonated in an apparent attempt to take
out Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during
a military parade in Caracas. Maduro escaped with
his life.Loitering With Intent
prior to these incidents, militants and militias
had already managed to utilize commercial drones,
giving non-state actors a sort of rudimentary yet
deadly air force to take on better-equipped foes. In
Iraq and Syria, U.S. troops have been targeted from
above by both the Islamic State militant group
(ISIS) and Iran-aligned paramilitary forces.
Highly destructive UAS have seen action on the
battlefield in the form of loitering munitions—so-
called because they “loiter” around the target area
waiting for their victim. They are also widely re-
ferred to as “kamikaze” drones or “suicide” drones,
evoking their self-destructive, single-use nature Last
year, Azerbaijani forces used them to gain a deadly
edge over Armenian rivals during a brief but bloody
war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory.“THERE IS CONCERN
GIVEN THE PROLIFERATION
OF SMALL, PORTABLE DRONES,
THAT EXPLOSIVE DRONES
COULD CAUSE A
MASS CASUALTY EVENT.”
)^5
20
^72
3
,/<
$^6
*
81
ʔ*
(^7
7 <
*
(^2
))
&$
''
,&
.ʔ$
)^3
ʔ*
(^7
7 <
^3
$^8
/^7
85
1 (
5 ʔ
*(
77
<