The Federal Aviation Administration would like you to know that drones and weapons are “a dangerous mix.” The government agency sent out a notice “warning” the public “that it is illegal to operate a drone with a dangerous weapon attached.” A dangerous weapon is broadly defined as “any item that is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious bodily injury.”
Safety Alert: The #FAA warns against attaching weapons to #drones. Operating a drone with a weapon attached is not only dangerous, it is illegal and violators could face significant civil penalties?. #FlySafe https://t.co/cX82SAS3iD pic.twitter.com/APwEzSrIBe
— The FAA ?? (@FAANews) August 22, 2019
“Perhaps you’ve seen online photos and videos of drones with attached guns, bombs, fireworks, flamethrowers, and other dangerous items,” FAA adds on its advisory page. “Do not consider attaching any items such as these to a drone because operating a drone with such an item may result in significant harm to a person and to your bank account.”
Under the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, federal law prescribes financial penalties for private drone operators caught affixing any “dangerous weapon” to a craft without first obtaining a permit. “Operators are subject to civil penalties up to $25,000 for each violation, unless the operator has received specific authorization from the Administrator of the FAA to conduct the operation,” the agency cautions.
What’s a “dangerous weapon?” The FAA’s advisory doesn’t ask us to overthink things here: it’s “any item that is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious bodily injury.” Of course, even as the government worries over managing the potential for violence on the rapidly-growing civilian drone frontier, it’s also innovating new ways to make militarized versions of the devices even more lethal, in the name of national defense.
But for those of us who aren’t on the bleeding edge of Defense Department drone R&D, we’ll heed the FAA’s advice and continue to satisfy our war-drone cravings the the good old-fashioned way: only on the screen, and armed only with a TV remote or game controller.
