them even more paranoid than they already were.
Tiffany sensed his trepidation. “My report will be screened through your security people, Mr. Smith. I’d just like to know … for background.”
“Please use discretion, Tiffany. After what happened in Miami, we don’t want to do anything more to dampen the spirit of the holiday season.”
“I understand. Please continue.”
Xander nodded. “As you know, drones are controlled through radio frequencies, and in the early days it was possible to jam these signals without too much difficulty, even though it was illegal for civilians to do so.”
“Why was that?”
“Because drones operate on the same frequencies as Wi-Fi, cellphones, and even 9-1-1 calls, so if a person were to build an illegal jamming device they could disrupt the entire grid, if even in the case of civil emergencies, the government would take such drastic measures. But then technology changed, and the killboxes have allowed a whole array of additional operations to be programmed into the flight controllers which are prohibited in most civilian drones, including the use of the misnamed random frequency generators.”
“Misnamed?”
“That’s right, because there’s really nothing random about these units. An RFG is a matching set of pre -determined radio frequencies unique to a particular pair of drone and controller that are constantly changing. This makes it impossible to jam the drones unless you overload every known frequency.”
“So there’s no way to stop them?”
“Short of shooting them out of the air, not many. A few years ago they tried using focused electromagnetic pulses, but that only works outside and on unshielded commercial drones, not combat-rated UAVs. Some facilities have used drone nets, either shot from guns or dropped from the ceiling.”
“I saw where one of these nets actually caused more harm than good.”
“That’s right. Malls began using them right at the outset of the crisis, but a net is just as good at capturing innocent shoppers as it is at knocking a drone out of the air. Now modern combat drones can cut through the netting, and have a ready-made killing field of trapped civilians nearby when they do. Or they can simply detonate an onboard bomb, killing every person within range who couldn’t get away.”
“Aren’t killboxes used mainly in the automatic drones?”
“ Autonomous drones, Tiffany. RFG and advanced satellite disruption is something we’re always working on, but that only applies to controlled units, what we call RPA’s or remotely-piloted aircraft. These days, a vast majority of attacks are carried out using autonomous drones which are programmed with a predetermined route and then sent off to accomplish their missions without outside influence. There’s no signal to jam, and since this class of drone is cheaper to purchase and operate, they’re the weapon of choice for terrorists. Killboxes also allow for the installation of sophisticated sense-and-avoid equipment, which enables a unit to scan its surroundings and avoid obstacles. These auto-units are able to effectively operate within buildings and far beyond the range of any pilot-controlled drone.”
“Yet the one inherent limitation with drone warfare is battery life, isn’t that right?”
“That’s another thing that technology has improved upon. Even ten years ago, the most you could expect was between twenty minutes to half-an-hour of flight time. Now with lightweight and long-lasting fuel cells, your average off-the-shelf UAVs can run for a couple of hours, maybe longer. And let’s face it, if an attack goes beyond half an hour or so, the effects will be exponentially worse.”
“Won’t they run out of ammo long before that … or just explode?”
“There’s not much that can done to stop the suicide drone designed simply to appear on-site and explode. For the others, there’s a whole menu of UAV-compatible armament now available, from lightweight nylon
Tiffany sensed his trepidation. “My report will be screened through your security people, Mr. Smith. I’d just like to know … for background.”
“Please use discretion, Tiffany. After what happened in Miami, we don’t want to do anything more to dampen the spirit of the holiday season.”
“I understand. Please continue.”
Xander nodded. “As you know, drones are controlled through radio frequencies, and in the early days it was possible to jam these signals without too much difficulty, even though it was illegal for civilians to do so.”
“Why was that?”
“Because drones operate on the same frequencies as Wi-Fi, cellphones, and even 9-1-1 calls, so if a person were to build an illegal jamming device they could disrupt the entire grid, if even in the case of civil emergencies, the government would take such drastic measures. But then technology changed, and the killboxes have allowed a whole array of additional operations to be programmed into the flight controllers which are prohibited in most civilian drones, including the use of the misnamed random frequency generators.”
“Misnamed?”
“That’s right, because there’s really nothing random about these units. An RFG is a matching set of pre -determined radio frequencies unique to a particular pair of drone and controller that are constantly changing. This makes it impossible to jam the drones unless you overload every known frequency.”
“So there’s no way to stop them?”
“Short of shooting them out of the air, not many. A few years ago they tried using focused electromagnetic pulses, but that only works outside and on unshielded commercial drones, not combat-rated UAVs. Some facilities have used drone nets, either shot from guns or dropped from the ceiling.”
“I saw where one of these nets actually caused more harm than good.”
“That’s right. Malls began using them right at the outset of the crisis, but a net is just as good at capturing innocent shoppers as it is at knocking a drone out of the air. Now modern combat drones can cut through the netting, and have a ready-made killing field of trapped civilians nearby when they do. Or they can simply detonate an onboard bomb, killing every person within range who couldn’t get away.”
“Aren’t killboxes used mainly in the automatic drones?”
“ Autonomous drones, Tiffany. RFG and advanced satellite disruption is something we’re always working on, but that only applies to controlled units, what we call RPA’s or remotely-piloted aircraft. These days, a vast majority of attacks are carried out using autonomous drones which are programmed with a predetermined route and then sent off to accomplish their missions without outside influence. There’s no signal to jam, and since this class of drone is cheaper to purchase and operate, they’re the weapon of choice for terrorists. Killboxes also allow for the installation of sophisticated sense-and-avoid equipment, which enables a unit to scan its surroundings and avoid obstacles. These auto-units are able to effectively operate within buildings and far beyond the range of any pilot-controlled drone.”
“Yet the one inherent limitation with drone warfare is battery life, isn’t that right?”
“That’s another thing that technology has improved upon. Even ten years ago, the most you could expect was between twenty minutes to half-an-hour of flight time. Now with lightweight and long-lasting fuel cells, your average off-the-shelf UAVs can run for a couple of hours, maybe longer. And let’s face it, if an attack goes beyond half an hour or so, the effects will be exponentially worse.”
“Won’t they run out of ammo long before that … or just explode?”
“There’s not much that can done to stop the suicide drone designed simply to appear on-site and explode. For the others, there’s a whole menu of UAV-compatible armament now available, from lightweight nylon
Similar Books
