Open Briefing has produced a series of monthly intelligence briefings on remote warfare since April 2014. Periodically, we undertake a more in-depth assessment of the trends in remote warfare. This current report sets out the findings of the third such assessment. A key theme of this assessment is the adoption of remote warfare by state and non-state actors beyond the United States and its Western allies.
Tag: unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)
Remote-control warfare briefing #17, August 2016: NATO designates cyberspace as an operational domain, US releases official estimates of deaths from drone strikes, Iraqi special forces play critical role retaking Fallujah
Monthly briefing from the Open Briefing intelligence unit on developments in remote-control warfare. This month: NATO designates cyberspace as an operational domain and includes cyber attacks in Article 5; newly-released official estimates of casualties from US drone strikes step in right direction but too limited; Iraqi special forces play critical role retaking Fallujah from Islamic State; and more.
Remote-control warfare briefing #15, May 2016: Shadowy Russian private military company fighting alongside Spetsnaz in Syria, US officials explore scenarios for Islamic State ‘dirty bomb’ attacks, studies find mass surveillance having negative impact on democracy
Monthly briefing from the Open Briefing intelligence unit on developments in remote-control warfare. This month: shadowy Russian private military company fighting alongside Spetsnaz special forces in Syria; US officials explore scenarios for Islamic State ‘dirty bomb’ attacks using drones; studies find mass surveillance having negative impact on democracy and informed debate; and more.
Remote-control warfare briefing #14, April 2016: Mercenaries increasingly being used in Yemen conflict, covert activities of French and Italian special forces in Libya revealed, US Department of Defence developing robotics and autonomous systems strategy
Monthly briefing from the Open Briefing intelligence unit on developments in remote-control warfare. This month: mercenaries are increasingly being used in Yemen conflict; the covert activities of French and Italian special forces in Libya are revealed; the US Department of Defence is developing its robotics and autonomous systems strategy; and more.
How to respond to the threat from hostile drones in the UK
Islamic State has used aerial drones for reconnaissance and battlefield intelligence in Iraq and Syria and has attempted to use aerial and ground drones with explosive payloads to attack Kurdish troops. Should we therefore be concerned about the possibility of Islamic State or another terrorist group using drones to attack Western cities? If so, what should we do to address the threat?
Remote-control warfare briefing #13, March 2016: The dangers of fully-autonomous weapons, UK government’s draft surveillance legislation challenged, UAE and Saudi Arabia pledge special forces to confront Islamic State
Monthly briefing from the Open Briefing intelligence unit on developments in remote-control warfare. This month: The dangers of fully-autonomous weapons discussed at World Economic Forum for first time; UK government’s draft surveillance legislation threatened by European Court of Human Rights ruling and parliamentary committee criticism; UAE and Saudi Arabia pledge special forces to confront Islamic State and support Syrian armed opposition; and more.
Hostile drones: Supplementary risk assessment
This briefing is provided as a supplement to the Open Briefing/Remote Control Project report Hostile drones: The hostile use of drones by non-state actors against civilian targets. Our findings are based on a risk assessment involving 270 individual likelihood/impact judgements taking into account the type of threat group, the type of unmanned vehicle, the theatre, the nature of the threat and the target.
Hostile drones: The hostile use of drones by non-state actors against British targets
In this groundbreaking report for the Remote Control project, Open Briefing has analysed over 200 commercially-available drones and assessed known drone use by non-state groups, including terrorist organisations, insurgent groups, organised crime groups, corporations and activists. The report sets out a series of recommendations to mitigate the threat from the hostile use of drones, including specific regulatory, passive and active countermeasures.
