The Targets (Ch. 36) – Bionic Bug Podcast Episode 036

Hey everyone, welcome back to Bionic Bug podcast! You’re listening to episode 36. This is your host Natasha Bajema, fiction author, futurist, and national security expert. I’m recording this episode on December 24, 2018. Happy holidays! First off, I have an update for Bionic Bug fans. Last week, I produced my first “Bionic Bug On Location” video where I take readers behind the scenes to visit a real location in my novel. I show how the location inspired the drone show that takes place at the beginning of the book. I’ll include the link to the video on YouTube in the show notes. Second, the drones are coming. And I don’t mean as presents for Christmas. They’ve made headlines quite a bit this past year, most significantly in the alleged assassination attempt on the President of Venezuela. Most recently, drones made the headlines for closing down Gatwick airport in London last week, the second largest airport in the UK. The sightings of two drones shut down the airport leading to the cancellation of hundreds of flights and disruptions for thousands of passengers. The incident has demonstrated how woefully unprepared we are for the misuse of existing technology. These types of disruptions have been predicted for years, but governments have done next to nothing to prepare for the era of drones. Today’s off-the-shelf drone capabilities allow individuals to project power into the air. Until recently, this was the sole domain of nation-states.  Read about our lack of preparedness and possible solutions in “Drones At Gatwick Airport Was Just Waiting To Happen,” published by Noel Sharkey on forbes.com on December 20. One of the many unrecognized dangers of not preparing for drone incidents is the potential for knee-jerk reactions to the use of drones. In reality, drones offer far more benefits to society than risks—think agriculture, film, construction, humanitarian aid, emergency response, and delivery. In the latest reporting on the incident, it’s not even clear that there were any drones sighted. Again, this speaks to our lack of preparedness. Drones are hard to detect, but it’s not impossible. If we start shutting down airports for fear of sighting drones, we’ve lost the war before it’s even started. This lowers the bar for anyone who wishes to cause mischief leading to major economic loss. We can’t afford to keep things as they are. Last week, Lara made it out of the beetle tank with some unexpected assistance. Now they need to figure out a plan to stop Fiddler from killing thousands of innocent people. Let’s find out what happens next. The views expressed on this podcast are my own and do not reflect the official policy or position of the National Defense University, the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.