INDEFENSIBLE
Recently Stephen Hawking issued his warning of humanity’s next great threat—autonomous weapons. He believes their versatility and capability will make autonomous weapons “the Kalashnikovs of tomorrow.”
With the perspective of thirty-years as the CEO of private and public technology companies, Thomas Banks reached a similar conclusion. Like Hawking, Banks believes drones pose a genuine, maybe indefensible, threat to national security. In only twenty years, drones have expanded beyond the battlefield and now used by Amazon and common citizens. Soon.....terrorists.
Indefensible
Every leap in technology brings with it consequences—beneficial and detrimental.
Today, drones are on the verge of demonstrating their benefit to society. Unfortunately, like all technology, they too will yield unintended consequences.
In a short time drones have become a part of pop-culture. They have found their way into everyday life from hobbyists discovering new and exciting ways to pass idle time, Realtors previewing property, Search and Rescue, Fire Fighting, and now retailers such as Amazon who recognize the cost effectiveness of unmanned automated delivery of their goods and products.
As autonomous unmanned vehicles prove their value, their use will quickly become
as widespred as smartphones. In fact, as time goes on it will become increasingly difficult to imagine how smart devices and drones will exist without the other. Unfortunately, just as smartphones and GPS have changed our way of life, drones will soon change the way we do everything…even terror.
In the novel Indefensible by Thomas Banks, we are introduced to a new and
frightening terror regime—Lone Wolf Technology-Jihadism. Although operating
independently, Technology-Jihadists will be coordinated by invisible remote leadership across the globe through social media. Leadership guiding their Lone Wolves into coordinated armadas as swarms of drones reek terror and destruction.
In Indefensible you’re introduced to drone warriors, milling invisibly within cities
and towns, driving innocuous soccer-mom-mini-vans maneuvering and delivering their C4 and biologic laden weapons within a few miles of their targets. Upon arrival, they open their sunroofs then let their merciless vehicles begin their autonomous journey to destruction.
The thought of C4 laden drones in itself is frightening. Unfortunately the logical
inclusion of more dastardly biological contaminants such as Anthrax or RICIN is
apocalyptic. Regardless of their payloads, the swarms of drones weighing only a few pounds and flying close to the ground will be invisible to radar detection and prove to be catastrophic and indefensible.
In the near future no venue will be safe or immune from this new-age attack system. Imagine autonomous explosive laden drones as they swarm buildings, sports arenas or outside gatherings of innocent and unwitting citizens. But yet, buildings are not the only viable targets for these unmanned autonomous instruments of disaster. Freeways, bridges, tunnels, cruise ships and even fully loaded airliners will fall victim. Drones have not only changed the fabric and tempo of warfare, they have ushered in a new era of remote and impersonal terror.
Indefensible doesn’t require the suspension of disbelief but rather acceptance of the inevitable.