Islamic State’s deadly drone operation is faltering, but U.S. commanders see broader danger ahead
U.S. airstrikes and local militias in eastern Syria have hobbled Islamic State's deadly drone program, U.S. officials say, but counter-terrorism experts warn that the terrorist group’s innovative use of the inexpensive technology may spur other aerial attacks around the globe. A specially trained unit of Islamic State pilots flew small quadcopters and model-plane-sized drones, sometimes a […]W.J. Hennigan writes for Los Angeles Times:
U.S. airstrikes and local militias in eastern Syria have hobbled Islamic State's deadly drone program, U.S. officials say, but counter-terrorism experts warn that the terrorist group’s innovative use of the inexpensive technology may spur other aerial attacks around the globe.
A specially trained unit of Islamic State pilots flew small quadcopters and model-plane-sized drones, sometimes a dozen or more at a time, to stream live video of U.S.-backed ground forces and to drop crude munitions on them in both Iraq and Syria.
It was, U.S. officials later acknowledged, perhaps the first time since the Vietnam War when the American military was largely powerless against enemy aircraft — in this case aircraft only a tiny fraction the size of U.S. warplanes.
