Venezuela

Military drones are becoming more prevalent in the evolving age of warfare and they come in all shapes and sizes. UAV’s, like the FLIR Black Hornet, look like a toy helicopter while the Reaper MQ-9 can pass as full-sized, manned aircraft. Matrix UAV, a Ukrainian firm, has created the perfect drone of death called “Demon” that carries weaponized payloads capable of taking on various strike missions.

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The investigative team of the website Bellingcat has concluded through open source research that in the assassination attempt of President Maduro, it appears that “two drones attempted to attack a parade at which President Maduro was speaking”, that “both drones likely carried some form of explosive device” and that “one detonated near the parade, the other crashed and then likely detonated, causing a fire” and lastly that “it is not possible to accurately attribute this apparent attack without further information.” In the report, Bellingcat also indicates that the two drones might have been DJI Matrice 600’s.

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The assassination attempt on the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, in which allegedly two off-the-shelf commercial drones were used, has pushed the debate about the fast-growing industry and expansion of commercial drone flights while providing security measures against the misuse of the unmanned aerial devices to the foreground. Last weekend’s attack is believed to be the first of its kind targetting a head of state and maybe a sign of things to come. It has led to growing concerns among industry experts and government officials as they have yet to find an effective way to counter the threat of low-cost weaponized drones.

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