NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Comment: Drone attacks are essentially terrorism by joystick

By Bernard Hudson comment
Washington Post·
5 Aug, 2018 08:34 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

In this still from a video provided by Venezolana de Television, first lady Cilia Flores winces at the sound of the explosions as President Nicolas Maduro delivers his speech. Photo / AP
In this still from a video provided by Venezolana de Television, first lady Cilia Flores winces at the sound of the explosions as President Nicolas Maduro delivers his speech. Photo / AP

In this still from a video provided by Venezolana de Television, first lady Cilia Flores winces at the sound of the explosions as President Nicolas Maduro delivers his speech. Photo / AP

A failed assassination attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro yesterday was mounted with explosive-armed drones, according to news reports.

Nine days earlier, and on the other side of the world, terrorists claimed to have sent an armed drone to attack the international airport in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

No one was killed in either case, and the circumstances of both remain murky. But a new and dangerous era in non-state-sponsored terrorism clearly has begun, and no one is adequately prepared to counter it.

In Caracas, Venezuela's capital, government officials said one or more drones detonated explosives above the audience at a nationally televised military event. Several people were injured, though not the President or his wife, Cilia Flores, who was standing next to him onstage. Maduro blamed his political opponents.

In Abu Dhabi, Houthi rebels from Yemen said they had launched a drone attack at the airport. UAE authorities deny the incident occurred, but the greater truth is that it is technically possible - indeed, not difficult at all - for the rebels to have done so.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Reinforcing this is the wide belief that the Houthis are being advised by Iran's special security services, which have shown an impressive capability for such things.

Both of these episodes will encourage other technologically savvy groups and disgruntled individuals to use drones to commit political violence. While news of the events in Venezuela and the UAE was disturbing, the failed attempt in Abu Dhabi is especially worrying because of the mass casualties that destroying an airliner would cause.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, or drones) represent a fresh threat to the travelling public. A concerted effort must be made to confront this threat before lives are lost.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Weaponised drones start with a tactical advantage: Most can fly lower than current technology is capable of readily detecting.

In this photo by China's Xinhua News Agency, an uniformed official bleeds from the head following the explosions. Photo / AP
In this photo by China's Xinhua News Agency, an uniformed official bleeds from the head following the explosions. Photo / AP

Even if they were carrying only a small quantity of explosives, they could bring down a civilian aircraft in flight. Commercial airliners are vulnerable during takeoffs and landings when there is limited time for aircrews to react to unforeseen, and potentially hostile, events.

A simple hobbyist's drone can down an airplane when joysticked into the airliner's path.

Militarised drones, the kind probably available to groups such as the Houthis, are heavier (but can weigh less than an adult human), and can carry several kilograms of explosives at speeds up to 160km/h with a range of 640km. These flying robots can be programmed to manoeuver into active airspace and wreak havoc without human guidance.

Discover more

Business

20 killed as tourist plane crashes in Swiss Alps

05 Aug 12:40 PM
World

Trump confirms, defends son's meeting with Kremlin lawyer

05 Aug 06:22 PM
New Zealand

Justice Minister Andrew Little caught in Lombok earthquake

05 Aug 07:51 PM
World

Tweets land Trump in more legal hot water

05 Aug 07:59 PM

Airport security, as currently designed, is focused on ways to mitigate threats from people who have access to the facility, such as passengers and staff, and from cargo transiting the grounds.

Airports are not designed to guard against purposeful attacks from the sky. More attention to finding ways to monitor low-flying objects such as drones is urgently needed.

A criminal investigator collects evidence in a parking lot where an allegedly armed drone crashed into a building in Caracas, Venezuela. Photo / AP
A criminal investigator collects evidence in a parking lot where an allegedly armed drone crashed into a building in Caracas, Venezuela. Photo / AP

One option: Position security drones above airports, looking down with constant vigilance for airborne threats. Another: Eventually require all drones to be connected to local cellular networks so that, at least, hobbyists' drones can be detected before they collide with commercial jets.

Protecting heads of state from drone attacks will be even more complex, so varied are the leaders' schedules and public appearances.

Not only can preprogrammed drones swoop in from almost any direction, but they can also be used by anyone with the means to buy them.

Worse, threats from the sky used to be exclusively the domain of nation-states. That has changed in the past two weeks. Now, a far broader and more elusive menace has emerged and must be addressed.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Weaponised drones are firmly in the hands of non-state actors.

No one is safe. Not heads of state. Not the flying public.

We cannot afford delay in devising ways to combat this new peril.

- Bernard Hudson is the former director of counterterrorism for the CIA and is a nonresident fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Centre.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

Trump ‘very unhappy’ with Putin on Ukraine, hints at sanctions

05 Jul 06:38 AM
Entertainment

Cause of death revealed as Julian McMahon, 56, dies after private battle

05 Jul 04:42 AM
Sport

Emma Raducanu criticises Wimbledon electronic line calls after loss

05 Jul 03:26 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
France hit back early in second half, All Blacks hold narrow lead
All Blacks

France hit back early in second half, All Blacks hold narrow lead

05 Jul 07:57 AM
Star’s final posts to daughter before death
Entertainment

Star’s final posts to daughter before death

05 Jul 06:46 AM
Trump ‘very unhappy’ with Putin on Ukraine, hints at sanctions
World

Trump ‘very unhappy’ with Putin on Ukraine, hints at sanctions

05 Jul 06:38 AM
'Very sad and tragic': Baby found critically hurt at house dies, homicide probe launched
New Zealand

'Very sad and tragic': Baby found critically hurt at house dies, homicide probe launched

05 Jul 06:33 AM
Caitlyns Wish claims seventh win in Te Rapa sprint race
Racing

Caitlyns Wish claims seventh win in Te Rapa sprint race

05 Jul 06:26 AM

Latest from World

Trump ‘very unhappy’ with Putin on Ukraine, hints at sanctions

Trump ‘very unhappy’ with Putin on Ukraine, hints at sanctions

05 Jul 06:38 AM

US President frustrated after a chat with the Russian leader about the Ukraine war.

Cause of death revealed as Julian McMahon, 56, dies after private battle

Cause of death revealed as Julian McMahon, 56, dies after private battle

05 Jul 04:42 AM
Emma Raducanu criticises Wimbledon electronic line calls after loss

Emma Raducanu criticises Wimbledon electronic line calls after loss

05 Jul 03:26 AM
Texas flash flood death toll rises to 24

Texas flash flood death toll rises to 24

05 Jul 03:26 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search