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Motaz Arab

Mrs.Whiting

English p.1

2/20/19

Drones

A drone has caused havoc in the Gatwick Airport, shutting it down for hours and causing

delays on thousands of flights during holiday season ("Drones and Unmanned Security

Robots."). The drone wasn’t a specially made, high tech piece of machinery. It was just like any

other, that anyone else could’ve gotten from the store.

Drones have a history dating back to the 1900’s. According to Luke Dormehl, the world’s

first quadcopter was created by inventor brothers Jacques and Louis Bréguet in 1907. In 1917,

Nikola Tesla created the first RC controlled plane, and in 1943, the German military created the

first remote controlled weapon that was put into operational use during WW11, a 2,300 pound

bomb used to sink ships (Dormehl). In the 1960s, RC planes hit the stores and became available

to the public for the first time ( Dormehl). In 2001, the U.S. was the first to use militarized

drones for aerial strikes (Dormehl). The drone strike carried out was in hopes to kill Osama Bin

Laden, but instead they killed an innocent man, named Daraz Khan, who was “just out collecting

scrap metal” at the time (Dormehl).

In 2016, 2.4 million drones were sold in just the United States. Also, remember that

different drones have different uses. For example, many people buy smaller drones that they can

fly around for fun, other drones are used for taking pictures or videos, and military drones are

used for airstrikes and intel. Most drones bought by shoppers are RC drones, while
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photographers, government workers, and professionals will use more expensive drones with

sensors and camera attached to them. (Sparrow).

From an economic standpoint, drones will take over a lot of delivery and labor type jobs,

but at the same time create many jobs for the service, design, and operation of drones (“The

Future of Drones in Business and Commerce”). Drones are used for inspection of construction

sights and buildings. Drones have been growing in popularity within state/local governments as

well (“33 Eye-Opening Drone Stats - Key Trends for 2019.”).

Drones are a recent technology that have potential to become a serious threat to society.

Drones are easy to access, and just as easy to abuse power with. Currently there aren’t strong

enough rules and regulations against them, and according to Robert Sparrow, drones have been

used for mass destruction in warfare.

Other than military drones, most drones can be bought in many stores, making them

easily accessible. Anyone of any age can go into local store to get an RC drone for around 20

bucks, while more professional type drones with much greater range and cameras attached to

them can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. According to “Pies In The Sky”, drone

deliveries have already been considered and are currently going through testing. Drone deliveries

sound great, until the power get put in the wrong hands. Drones can be, and have been used for

spying. They may have a little camera attached to them to record or take pictures, and tracing

them back to their owner may not be possible with some drones.

As easily accessible drones can be, they don’t have enough rules or regulations against

them. A “cheap, easily-available drone intruded into what should be some of Britain's most

secure airspace” according to the London Evening Standard. Stricter laws against drones would
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help prevent misuse of them. Also, if the government funded geo fencing around airports,

government buildings, e.c.t., drones wouldn't be able to intrude the premises (“New Drone Rules

a Start”) Plus, the use of drones within national parks can be problematic as they can mess with

the nationalities of the park and animals. Although the FAA requires registration of certain

drones, this doesn’t stop people from flying them around in places they shouldn’t be (“33

Eye-Opening Drone Stats - Key Trends for 2019.”).

Sadly, drones haven’t been used exclusively for deliveries and personal use. Drones have

also taken many lives in warfare. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism state the rate of civilian

casualties from drone strikes for 2012 is 9 percent ("Drones and Unmanned Security Robots.").

Those innocent people did not deserve to die, and it needs to stop. It has been reported that 160

children have died from UAV-launched attacks in Pakistan and that over 1,000 civilians have

been injured. A New America Foundation poll in Pakistan's tribal areas, where drone attacks had

occurred, found that only 16 percent of the local population thought that the strikes targeted

militants accurately ("Drones and Unmanned Security Robots."). This means that drone strikes

are thought as ineffective by those who live around these attacks.

Although drones may be extremely problematic in the near future, some people say

drones are safe and don’t need any further regulations in order for drone use and deliveries to

become common. Drone technology only continues to innovate, as Dormehl states, “, DJI’s

Phantom 4 introduced smart computer vision and machine learning technology. This allowed it

to avoid obstacles and intelligently track and photograph people, animals, or objects”. With such

advanced technology developed in 2016, it’s unimaginable how innovative drones in the near

future will be! Some people believe that restricting one's use of drones is restricting one's
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freedom. There haven’t been any recent court rulings on drones, yet. Drones can indeed save

businesses a substantial amount of money. Drones can effectively and continuously deliver

supplies or gather information a lot faster than humans. Businesses that invest in drones would

only have to worry about maintenance of drones instead of paying and managing employees.

This not only saves money, but saves time and increases efficiency. Also, drones can be

extremely effectively in warfare. Drone strikes can create remotely triggered and destructive and

effects, without risking lives of your soldiers.

The problem with this, is that drone use needs international restrictions in order to be

safe, and that most countries have little to no laws and regulations against them. Drones can also

replace a lot of labor type jobs, with the possibility of mass unemployment in the future. Also,

drone use in warfare is inhumane. This is so because many drone strikes cause innocent civilian

casualties and unimaginable damage. With drone strikes being controlled remotely, there is

always room for error and collateral damage. Without international agreements, military drones

can get in the wrong hands and used for the wrong reasons. Military drones are also extremely

expensive, costing millions of dollars per strike ("Drones and Unmanned Security Robots").

The best solution to the new threat of drones would be an international agreement among

the most powerful nations to not use drones in warfare or for spying and hacking. This would

help give a lot of people the peace of mind for the future of drone technology integrating into

modern society. Also, extensive safety rules and restriction for drone use for businesses is a

necessity to avoid mass unemployment.

Some interesting information about drones include the fact that “1,000 acres of farmland

can be inspected in just one day with a drone” (“33 Eye-Opening Drone Stats - Key Trends for
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2019.”). Plus, drones are relied on for mapping roads, terrain, parks, e.c.t. (“33 Eye-Opening

Drone Stats - Key Trends for 2019.”) Also, 5,500 units of blood were delivered by drones in

Rwanda in 2017 (“33 Eye-Opening Drone Stats - Key Trends for 2019”). With this in mind,

imagine how useful drones can be after natural disasters. Drones could help deliver food and

resources when needed when conventional ways of deliveries are not an option. Also, the

projected annual revenue of the drone industry by 2025 is projected to reach 82 billion, as Drone

sales in the U.S have more than doubled since 2017 (“33 Eye-Opening Drone Stats - Key Trends

for 2019”). 48 percent of commercial drone use in the U.S. is used for real estate and

photography, while Insurance and construction companies make up less than half of that (“33

Eye-Opening Drone Stats - Key Trends for 2019”). ”Drones have reportedly saved 133 lives

around the world” (“33 Eye-Opening Drone Stats - Key Trends for 2019”). This number will

continue to grow as drone technology develops. Drones are reported to have increased safety on

construction sites by 55 percent (“33 Eye-Opening Drone Stats - Key Trends for 2019”). Lastly,

homes with ariel pictures have been sold 68% faster (“33 Eye-Opening Drone Stats - Key

Trends for 2019”).

In conclusion, drones need to be recognized for the serious threats they can pose for our

future. There is not enough global discussion about drones yet, although they are going to have

to be regulated in the near future due to how fast drone technology has been growing. We need

to raise awareness about the economic threats drones could have along with their potential, as the

market for them continues to grow. Drones can be just as easily misused for the wrong reasons,

and this is made more possible with the lack of rules and regulations against them, along with
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how easily accessible they are. Military drones have been proven inhumane with how much

destruction they can cause, along with taking lives of innocent civilians.

Works Cited

"Drones and Unmanned Security Robots." ​Global Issues in Context Online Collection​,

Gale, 2018. ​Global Issues in Context,​

https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CP3208520396/GIC?u=onlinelibrary&sid=GIC

&xid=e818271d. Accessed 4 Feb. 2019.

"Gatwick chaos shows drone rules must change." ​London Evening Standard​ [London,

England], 20 Dec. 2018, p. 16. ​Global Issues in Context,​

https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A566447203/GIC?u=onlinelibrary&sid=GIC&

xid=6802573f. Accessed 8 Feb. 2019

"New drone rules a start." ​Toronto Star​ [Toronto, Ontario], 13 Jan. 2019, p. A16. ​Global
Issues in Context​,
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https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A569292321/GIC?u=onlinelibrary&sid=GIC&x
id=560d5806. Accessed 15 Jan. 2019.

"Pies in the sky; Drone deliveries take off." ​The Economist,​ 27 Oct. 2018, p. 75(US).

Global Issues in Context​,

https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A559737846/GIC?u=onlinelibrary&sid=GIC&x

id=cc23c1e7. Accessed 15 Jan. 2019.

Sparrow, Robert. "Drones." ​Ethics, Science, Technology, and Engineering:​ ​A Global

Resource,​ edited by J. Britt Holbrook, 2nd ed., vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA,

2015, pp. 611-613. ​Global Issues in Context,​

https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3727600223/GIC?u=onlinelibrary&sid=GIC

&xid=940fd2a8. Accessed 8 Feb. 2019.

“The Future of Drones in Business and Commerce.” ​Mondo,​ 15 Jan. 2018,

www.mondo.com/future-of-drones/.

Dormehl, Luke. “The History of Drones in 10 Milestones.” ​Digital Trends​, Digital Trends,
12 Sept. 2018, www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/history-of-drones/.
 
“33 Eye-Opening Drone Stats - Key Trends for 2019.” ​Philly By Air​, 12 Mar. 2019,
www.phillybyair.com/blog/drone-stats/.
 

 
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