Although many would view ISIS as a group of relatively primitive fighters, the past few months have seen ISIS fighters deploying drones against Iraqi and US forces in the region. ISIS has begun weaponizing civilian quadcopter drones, flying them over US and Iraqi troops and dropping grenades from the air.
Watch video footage of an ISIS drone striking a Humvee full of ammo.
Iraqi forces have found improvised drone bombs made from grenades mounted in PVC pipe with badminton shuttlecocks attached as stabilizing fins. The grenades are attached to the drone and the pin attached via wire to the drone. When the drone is over the target the drone is instructed to release the grenade, allowing gravity to pull the pin and arm it while the fins stabilize it in flight.
According to US and Iraqi sources, ISIS will often wait for Iraqi security forces to deploy drones for surveillance, then deploy their own drones to trick the ground forces into thinking the drone above them is one of their own. They can then loiter and choose a target at their leisure.
And it's not just ISIS that is a new threat -- in June an Iranian predator-sized drone attacked US-led special forces teams hunting ISIS near the Syria/Iraq border.
US ground forces have not come under a successful air attack since the Korean War. With the wide availability of commercial drones and a bit of do-it-yourself engineering, that record may soon come to an end.
WTF US soldiers doing in that part of the world ???
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