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The Proliferation of Small Drones:
Trends, Implications and Recommendations
For Singapore
By ME6 David Bey, MAJ Sim Bao Chen and
ME5 Ng Wei Rong
March 2020
The Proliferation of Small Drones: Trends, Implications and Recommendations For Singapore
1
TRENDS, IMPLICATIONS AND
By: ME6 David Bey, MAJ Sim Bao Chen & ME5 Ng Wei Rong
ABSTRACT
In this article, the authors first accounted for how Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have developed over
time, before describing the current trends in the development of UAVs and the potential for UAVs in the modern
context. The authors then discussed the various threats that UAVs pose to Singapore’s national security and
sovereignty. They suggested several additional recommendations for Singapore to address the challenges of
managing UAVs, but concluded by highlighting the potential of UAVs to be utilised to augment the Republic of
Singapore Air Force (RSAF) operations.
Keywords: UAVs; Small Drones; 4th Industrial Revolution; Regulations; National Security
INTRODUCTION
Unmanned technology, specifically UAVs, has
been around for centuries and was used predominantly
for military purposes, albeit in very rudimentary forms.
Over the years, bigger, longer endurance and
weaponised UAVs capable of persistent surveillance and
delivering precise firepower were developed to
complement manned platforms to secure military
objectives. However, this trend seems to have reversed
recently. The revolutionary advancement in technology
over recent years, in what many call the 4th Industrial
Revolution (4IR), has enabled the miniaturisation of
payloads and the consequent proliferation of smaller,
smarter unmanned drones.1 These are operated
increasingly by commercial and civilian entities for a
whole host of functions, ranging from goods delivery to
environmental monitoring to maintenance inspection of
transmission cables.2 Given its promising prospects, it
will not be long before drones are operated in
Singapore in a bigger way, with potentially serious
implications on the safety and security of our country if
not properly managed. This essay seeks to outline the
global trends in the growth of small unmanned drones,
highlight its implications that are faced globally and in
Singapore, and make recommendations to mitigate
these impacts.
TRENDS
The earliest recorded use of a UAV dates back to
the mid-19th Century, when the Austrians invaded the
Italian city of Venice using balloons that were loaded
with explosives.3 Subsequent military applications saw
the use of radio-controlled pilotless aircraft by the
British and Americans in World War One (WWI).4 We
have since made giant leaps in the employment of
UAVs. Medium and High Altitude Long Endurance
(MALE and HALE) class UAVs capable of carrying
surveillance and weapon payloads for sustained periods
have since became an integral part of the Order of
Battle (ORBAT) of many advanced armed forces around
the world.
With the advent of 4IR, we have witnessed a
reversal of trends towards smaller and smarter drones.
Just like how the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Industrial Revolutions
gave birth to steam power, electricity for mass
production and the Internet respectively to bring about
quantum leaps in how we work and our way of life, the
4IR has been marked by exponential advances in many
areas, and the fusion between the digital, physical and
biological, bringing far-reaching changes that impact
even societal norms.5 Paired with ubiquitous
smartphones, small drones have provided a means to
literally gain new perspectives—if the human cannot fly,
as Icarus wished to, at least his eyes are able to take to
2
The Proliferation of Small Drones: Trends, Implications and Recommendations For Singapore
the sky. Broadly, unmanned drones have become more
capable, more available, and more useful, but also more
dangerous in recent times.
With the advent of 4IR, we have
witnessed a reversal of trends
towards smaller and smarter
drones.
More Capable
Seizing on the opportunities afforded by this
emerging technology, commercial companies have
responded quickly to growing demand by investing
significant resources in Research & Development and
marketing. With an initial small group of companies,
such as DJI from China, 3D Robotics from the United
States, Yunnec from Hong Kong and Parrot from France,
the sector has grown tremendously, and the market
forces have also fuelled corresponding growth and
innovation in the sector. Coupled with the growth in the
computers and camera sensors development, this has
resulted in a near exponential growth in the capabilities
of small unmanned drones in a classical Moore’s law
scenario. For example, while an earlier version of a
drone carried low resolution cameras and was capable
of modest flight times, a typical small drone today like
the DJI Phantom 4 incorporates four-axis gyro-
stabilisation, GPS-capable waypoint guidance, Beyond-
Line of Sight operations, and is capable of flying up to
70km/h with a 20 megapixel camera in tow for no less
than 30 minutes.6 Some of these drones are
technologically even more advanced than helicopters in
lesser capable militaries. Miniaturisation had also
recently added to this growth—the current market
leader DJI, with over 80% of the market share, had
released a drone capable of folding to have the
footprint of a small laptop and is capable of stowing into
any schoolkids’ backpack.7
More Available
Besides the growing capabilities, the ability to
mass manufacture has resulted in the proliferation of
drones as they become increasingly cheaper and
accessible to companies and the average man on the
streets. It is now economically viable for commercial
companies to employ drones in a series of applications,
such as maintenance inspection, agricultural and
environmental monitoring, and aerial surveillance for
security enforcement agencies as well as media
entities.8 We have also seen the growing adoption of
small unmanned aircraft from professionals and
Wikipedia
A Black Hornet Nano Helicopter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, measuring 10cm x 2.5cm.
3
The Proliferation of Small Drones: Trends, Implications and Recommendations For Singapore
hobbyists alike. In the professional sector, small
unmanned drones have opened up a new perspective
for filming, providing a unique ‘birds-eye’ view of the
area of interest without the need for a rental of an
expensive helicopter and associated crew. In the
hobbyist area, small unmanned drones are utilised by
enthusiasts to experience the joy of flying in an
inexpensive manner, especially if the system offers a
First-Person-View (FPV) capability. A common practice
today is to travel with a drone to enhance the views
available—enabling breath-taking views for example, of
the endless beaches of the Gold Coast in Australia, or
difficult-to-reach areas in Iceland.9
More Useful
With rapid technological progress and falling
costs due to mass production, many companies and
agencies have taken to using these drones. The airline
EasyJet uses drones for aircraft inspections. Park
rangers in Africa use drones to look for poachers and
monitor endangered rhinoceros. Shell uses drones to
inspect oil infrastructure that is hard to reach, or
potentially hazardous.10 Beyond inspections, one of the
largest sectors for growth in the drone market is for
agricultural purposes. When combined with data
analytics and multi-spectral sensors, drones help to
monitor the growth of crops over large plantations,
analysing plant height, growth rates, chlorophyll
concentrations, and even help to make targeted
recommendations so as to improve crop yield.11 In the
logistics sector, large companies like Amazon and UPS
are using drones for courier delivery of packages.
Locally, agencies such as the National Environmental
Agency (NEA) have adopted the use of such drones to
inspect roof gutters for dengue breeding grounds.12
California has used drones in their firefighting efforts,
and Nepal used drones in post-earthquake location of
survivors. And if that wasn’t enough, Dubai is looking to
use drones capable of autonomously transporting
people, in a style reminiscent of the cartoon The
Jetsons.13
More Dangerous
Drones today have evolved sufficiently to be
equipped with or used as a weapon. Numerous reports
have surfaced of near-misses between civil airliners and
A drone intended for agricultural use.
Wikipedia
4
The Proliferation of Small Drones: Trends, Implications and Recommendations For Singapore
drones. In 2015, a Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) conference showcased a DJI Phantom 2, then the
best on the market, holding 3 pounds of dynamite.14
Security experts have also cautioned that such drones
could be easily modified to carry and remotely fire off
handguns, or used as an airborne delivery platform for
Chemical and Radiological agents.15 This problem is
exacerbated by the small Radar Cross Section (RCS) of
drones—comparable with that of a bird—which makes
it extremely difficult for them to be detected and
tracked by radar systems today. Just 10 days after the
fore-mentioned DHS conference, a small unmanned
drone crashed into a tree on the South Lawn of the
White House beyond the regular security cordon, raising
questions on the Secret Service’s ability to protect the
White House from drone threats.16 A similar episode
happened earlier in 2013, when another small
unmanned drone landed inches from the German
Chancellor Angela Merkel during an election campaign
event in Dresden and was picked up by her security
detail.17 These properties of drones make a potent mix
for anyone wishing to exploit them for nefarious
purposes. On less explosive frontiers, drones have also
been reported to have been used to smuggle drugs and
contraband goods across physical borders and even into
prisons.18
Besides these risks, drones also represent a cyber-
security risk. Because they are almost always directly
connected to the internet via smartphones, drones
could be hacked into and taken over by hostile action.19
Besides their video stream being hacked and
unknowingly shared, an innocent hobbyist drone could
be commandeered for more nefarious purposes, like
those mentioned above, with the culprit extremely hard
to trace.
The world is recognising the risks and
responding—a conference was held in December 2016,
aptly titled ‘Countering Drones Conference’, to gather
security experts from around the world to discuss ‘the
security and safety threat that this technology presents
to critical national infrastructure, homeland security and
a range of commercial sectors.’20 Manufacturers have
also begun to make counter-drone systems, ranging
from electronic jamming guns, drones carrying nets, to
even eagles catching drones!
While there are stringent
airworthiness standards on the
quality of aviation platforms to
minimise crashes and disasters,
there are no such equivalent
standards on these small
unmanned drones which can be
purchased from unregulated and
unknown sources.
IMPLICATIONS FOR SINGAPORE
Being a globalised country, Singapore faces
similar issues with these drones. Their increasing
proliferation in Singapore will not be without its
challenges. Beyond issues such as privacy risks, we have
chosen to highlight two grave areas of concern,
especially for a compact nation like ours—the risk of air
accidents, and the risk to national security. The
introduction of drones into airspace previously meant
exclusively for manned aircraft will require an increased
demand for tight airspace co-ordination and control,
failing which the risk of air accidents will be amplified
manifold. The exploitation of drones for insidious
purposes like weapon delivery will also pose a threat to
national security and sovereignty.
Risk of Air Accidents
The airspace overhead of Singapore is one of the
most congested in the world. The eastern side of the
island holds one of the world’s busiest airports, with
flights arriving or departing once every 90 seconds.21
Airspace is also required to hold and sequence these
airliners to ensure safe separation prior to landing or
after take-off. Over other parts of the island, our RSAF
assets regularly operate at various heights, with
helicopters flying as low as treetop level and sometimes
flying in the same airspace as our fighters and transport
aircraft. On top of that, there are areas with restricted
airspace, such as over the Istana, for security reasons.
There has been a worrying trend developing overseas,
with disturbing videos on Facebook of near misses
between airliners and small unmanned drones
5
The Proliferation of Small Drones: Trends, Implications and Recommendations For Singapore
becoming increasingly common. On one occasion, a
collision was not spared, as a British Airways aircraft
carrying 132 passengers on board was making its
approach into Heathrow airport when it collided with a
drone.22 While this episode did not result in fatalities, it
was instructive on the potential consequences of
unregulated drones flying in airspace shared with
manned aircraft, especially in the vicinity of airfields.
For all these aviation operations, the control is
performed centrally with tight co-ordination between
the RSAF and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore
(CAAS), and the flight timings, heights and routes are
not available to the commercial entities and general
public who might operate drones. In addition, while all
aviators, including operators of military UAVs, undergo
stringent training on flying fundamentals such as
obeying commands issued by Air Traffic Controllers and
honing emergency response instincts through simulator
training (including emergencies on aircraft in the
vicinity), the general populace does not undergo such
training.23 The lack of air sense would make it dangerous
for co-sharing of airspace with manned platforms,
especially when emergency scenarios unravel.
While there are stringent airworthiness standards
on the quality of aviation platforms to minimise crashes
and disasters, there are no such equivalent standards on
these small unmanned drones which can be purchased
from unregulated and unknown sources.24 The lack of
globally enforced standards for airworthiness of these
drones is also a problem area, for what goes up must
come down, hopefully in a controlled manner. A
mechanical failure in flight of one of the motors could
result in a crash landing, and in a heavily populated area
like Singapore, the uncontrolled descent of a 7kg
weight, which is the currently permitted maximum
weight allowed to fly without a permit, onto a human
being could be very injurious.25
Risk to National Security and Sovereignty
Drones can also be exploited for more insidious
purposes by state actors, terrorist groups and lone-wolf
saboteurs to threaten national sovereignty and security.
Recently, reports have emerged of fighters in ISIS
utilising these as airborne Improvised Explosive Devices
(IEDs), highlighting the threat that terrorists could bring
by the simple acquisition and modification of these
drones. In addition, advances in additive manufacturing,
or 3D printing, have also demonstrated how such
drones could be easily designed and printed in the
comfort of one’s own homes.
Detection of drones is getting increasingly
challenging with them getting smaller. Traditional
methods of air defence depend largely on radar, which
is the detection of airborne objects through the
reflection of radio waves. However, in order not to
generate many false alarms, the radar is usually tuned
to have a certain threshold—detections smaller than a
certain RCS will be disregarded so as not to pick up
other flying objects such as birds. Small unmanned
drones have similar RCSs and are hence difficult to
detect, especially if they are hovering.26 Technologically,
the associated radar bands that are capable of detecting
such RCS sizes are also affected by moisture and heavily
attenuated by rain, and thus have much shorter ranges
as opposed to those radars for large aircraft. Besides the
capability to detect such RCS sizes, the software
algorithm used to discriminate between birds and
drones is also a challenge. Currently, the most fool proof
method is to focus on detecting the communications
between the operator and the drone, looking for the
signals and communications protocols that are
transmitted to control the drone.27 However, this
method requires a gamut of passive sensors placed in
the appropriate locations to detect. This is typically
paired with acoustic sensors to detect for the high-
pitched ‘whine’ of the electric motors on these small
drones.
Detection of drones is getting
increasingly challenging with them
getting smaller.
To regulate the flying of drones in local airspace,
our civil airspace regulatory body, CAAS, has set out
some easy-to-follow rules, governing the size and
operating areas, for example.28 For other similar cities
like Hong Kong and New York, their airspace regulatory
bodies have implemented similar measures.29 However,
this would not address the threat of cross-border drone
flying, as we are within proximity of neighbours that
might also operate such drones but are not subject to
6
The Proliferation of Small Drones: Trends, Implications and Recommendations For Singapore
local regulations. State actors may increasingly consider
the employment of drones in swarms as a weapon of
choice during Period of Tension (POT) and war, as
opposed to the more conventional means of warfare.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Given the challenges and implications of
proliferated drones usage in Singapore mentioned
above, beyond strict regulations such as restrictions on
the flying of drones for certain areas, recommendations
can be made in 2 broad areas as mitigation, namely by
pursuing technological solutions and establishing
stronger governance framework for standards. Given
the wide range of drone applications, a Whole-of-
Government approach is required for these
recommendations. There are however, limitations to
some of the suggested solutions and these will be
highlighted and discussed.
Technological Solutions
To assist in airspace de-confliction and play a
greater role in Corporate Social Responsibility, the
larger companies such as DJI have implemented what is
known as GPS geo-fencing.30 As their drones are capable
of GPS navigation, the firmware is hardwired to avoid
certain areas, and the drone is even prevented from
flying into the area defined by the set of GPS co-
ordinates. However, this requires government and
regulatory bodies to register these co-ordinates with
the commercial company, and after that, entrusts the
commercial company, who might operate on different
considerations and principles, with the responsibility of
national security. Moreover, this capability is not
present in the smaller drone producers, especially
companies that can cobble together existing parts.
Detection of lone drones remains challenging
based on existing radar technology today. Hence,
defence contractors have put their resources and
emphasis on developing methods to interdict and
remove drone threats expeditiously. Efforts till date
were largely focused on non-kinetic means to remove
such threats, such as through jamming.31 This method
induces the drone to either land immediately or to
return to its pre-programmed ‘home’. Unfortunately, a
GPS-waypoint-programmable drone is not susceptible
to such jamming as the operator does not need to
communicate with the drone after take-off. Thus, kinetic
solutions to remove the threat are still required.
A DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ v3.0 drone, a popular commercially available drone.
Wikipedia
7
The Proliferation of Small Drones: Trends, Implications and Recommendations For Singapore
Innovative methods in this have been explored, ranging
from getting other small drones to drop nets and foul
the offender’s propellers, the use of net guns and even
training eagles to catch intruding drones by the French
Air Force.32 More advanced solutions such as the use of
lasers have also been explored and proposed. However,
while the threat of the drones can be removed using the
abovementioned solutions, the concurrent issue of
catching the offending operator remains as an
unresolved issue, since the bulk of time and effort is
weighted towards the interception of the drone which
leaves the operators and offenders time to scoot.
Governance and Standards
In the area of airspace management for safety
and security, besides relying on commercial companies
to implement geo-fencing given our unique airspace
situation, Singapore needs to do more in the area of
governance and standards for drones’ manufacture and
operation.
For a start, we need to define a set of
airworthiness standards and requirements for such
small unmanned systems wanting to operate in our
airspace. At present, there is none globally, but the
effect of a drone falling from the sky in other parts of
the world is also correspondingly less of a concern and
hence the issue is less pressing elsewhere. Next, there
needs to be a certification process to only allow
producers that meet locally-defined standards, to
market and sell their product locally. We also need to
prevent the unauthorised import of uncertified drones
as part of our customs and excise process. We would
also need to control the inflow of critical parts such as
electrical motors that can power drones, and gyro-
stabilisers that would enable the flying.
We would also need to work with our regional
neighbours to implement such regulations, possibly
under a regional framework under the ambit of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
As a means to better detect and also isolate
offenders, we should ensure that every authorised
drone that flies in our local airspace is equipped with an
active transponder. Larger commercial planes have an
existing system known as Automatic Dependent
Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), in which their speed
and positional information is constantly transmitted to
An MQ-9 Reaper UAV capable of conducting military operations.
Wikipedia
8
The Proliferation of Small Drones: Trends, Implications and Recommendations For Singapore
Air Traffic Control.33 There are existing products on the
market which have miniaturised such a system, and this
would allow our air traffic and air defence controllers to
quickly identify drones which are of unknown origin and
need to be further investigated. Again, through
regulations akin to mandating an IU in every car, we
could ensure that every authorised drone has one of
these active transponders.
We would also need to identify set areas for
drone hobbyists to operate their drones, as the current
set of regulations only identifies where they cannot fly,
as opposed to where they should fly.
Finally, the RSAF should also quickly
operationalise an engagement capability in order to
enforce such regulations. We would need to work
tightly with Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on punitive
measures, such that the offending operators can be
arrested and appropriate actions taken against them.
OPPORTUNITIES AMIDST CHALLENGES
In every threat there is also an opportunity. Just
as how others are using drones to innovatively conduct
warfare, there is also much potential for the RSAF to
exploit. These drones, when equipped with artificial
intelligence and given greater autonomy of operations,
can help the RSAF to overcome our lack of mass due to
our small human resource base. For example, in
manned-unmanned teaming concepts, these drones
could help our manned aircraft to accomplish some of
the missions, such as looking for survivors in air-crashes
or post-earthquake disaster relief efforts.34 In loyal
wingman modes, these drones could help our pilots to
multiply their efforts in the battlespace, against a more
numerous enemy. Finally, in the concept of swarm,
these drones could autonomously conduct operations
from the air, each of them filling a key node in the
observe-orientate-decide-act loop, and the
disaggregation of sensors and shooters amongst the
swarm would also increase the survivability of the
overall group.35
CONCLUSION
We live in the age of disruptions. Drone
technology is a fine example of these disruptions—it
holds great potential to increase our productivity and
find new ways to do business, but also brings along
threats to security and safety of the populace. In order
to navigate these disruptions, a Whole-of-Government
approach, and even a Whole-of-Society approach, is
required to strike the best balance; maximising gains for
Singapore whilst minimising the possible negatives that
could result.
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The Proliferation of Small Drones: Trends, Implications and Recommendations For Singapore
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The Proliferation of Small Drones: Trends, Implications and Recommendations For Singapore
ENDNOTES
1. Klaus Schwad, “The Fourth Industrial Revolution: What It Means and How to Respond,” in World Economic Forum (Switzerland, 2016), https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/.
2. Rebecca Smith, “Utilities Turn to Drones to Inspect Power Lines and Pipelines,” Wall Street Journal May 6, 2015, accessed February 26, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/utilities-turn-to-drones-to-inspect-power-lines-and-pipelines-1430881491.
3. Rob Crilly, “Drones First Used in 1848,” The Telegraph (The Telegraph), June 20, 2011, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/8586782/Drones-first-used-in-1848.html.
4. Ibid
5. Bernard Marr, “Why Everyone Must Get Ready for the 4th Industrial Revolution,” Forbes April 5, 2016, accessed February 26, 2017, https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2016/04/05/why-everyone-must-get-ready-for-4th-industrial-revolution/#60aff3a33f90.
6. “DJI Phantom 4 – Specs, FAQ, Tutorials and Downloads,” March 20, 2016, accessed February 26, 2017, http://www.dji.com/phantom-4/info#specs.
7. Brian Heater, “DJI’s Folding Drone Is Smaller and Better at Tracking Than GoPro’s Offering,” Tech Crunch, September 27, 2016, https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/27/djis/.
8. “22 Impressive Ways Drones Are Being Used Right Now,” February 22, 2017, accessed February 26, 2017, http://www.techworld.com/picture-gallery/personal-tech/best-uses-of-drones-in-business-3605145-3605145/.
9. “Why You Should Bring a Drone on Your Next Big Trip,” CN Traveler, June 28, 2016, accessed February 26, 2017, http://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2016-06-28/why-you-should-bring-a-drone-on-your-next-trip.
10. “Eye in the Sky,” Shell Global, accessed February 26, 2017, http://www.shell.com/inside-energy/eye-in-the-sky.html.
11. Chris Anderson, “Agricultural Drones,” MIT Technology Review 117, no. 3 (May 2014), accessed February 26, 2017, https://www.technologyreview.com/s/526491/agricultural-drones/.
12. Adrian Lim, “Government Agencies Can Expand Use of Drones Through Master Contract,” The Straits Times (The Straits Times), November 1, 2016.
13. This is an American futuristic series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in the 1960s.
14. Kevin Poulsen, “Why the US Government Is Terrified of Hobbyist Drones,” Wired, February 5, 2015, https://www.wired.com/2015/02/white-house-drone. /
15. Associated Press in Clinton, “Teen’s Video of Handgun-Toting Drone Prompts Federal Investigation,” The Guardian (The Guardian), February 21, 2017.
Associated Press in Tokyo, “Drone ‘containing radiation’ Lands on Roof of Japanese PM’s Office,” The Guardian (The Guardian), April 23, 2015.
16. Poulsen, “Why the US Government is Terrified of Hobbyist Drones”.
17. Sean Gallagher, German Chancellor’s Drone “attack” Shows the Threat of Weaponized UAVs, (Ars Technica), September 18, 2013, https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/09/german-chancellors-drone-attack-shows-the-threat-of-weaponized-uavs/.
18. Alice Ross, “Conference Studies Security Threats Posed by Consumer Drones,” The Guardian (The Guardian), February 21, 2017.
19. “Drones – Another Threat to Security,” TECHGENIX, October 4, 2016, accessed February 26, 2017, http://techgenix.com/drones-another-threat-security/.
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The Proliferation of Small Drones: Trends, Implications and Recommendations For Singapore
20. DefenceIQ, “The Emerging Threat: Identifying, Measuring and Preparing for the Security Implications of Civil and Commercial Drones,” Countering Drones 2016.
21. Angela Tan, Singapore Changi Airport’s Passenger Movements in Nov up 3.2% from a Year Ago, (The Business Times), December 28, 2016.
22. K G Orphanides, “Police Called After ‘drone’ Hits Plane Landing at Heathrow,” Wired, February 26, 2017, http://www.wired.co.uk/article/heathrow-drone-collision-plane.
23. Clay Dillow, “With New Rules, the FAA and Drone Industry Make up,” Fortune February 19, 2015, accessed February 26, 2017, http://fortune.com/2015/02/18/faa-drone-rules-proposal/.
24. Ibid
25. Drone Laws in Singapore, (The Straits Times), April 19, 2016, http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/drone-laws-in-singapore.
26. Michael J Boyle, “The Race for Drones,” Orbis 59, no. 1 (November 17, 2014).
27. “Advanced Drone Detection and Warning Device,” Dedrone, January 16, 2017, accessed February 26, 2017, http://www.dedrone.com/en/dronetracker/drone-detection-hardware.
28. “Flying of Unmanned Aircraft,” Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, January 20, 2017, accessed February 26, 2017, http://www.caas.gov.sg/caas/en/ANS/unmanned-aircraft.html.
29. Allen Au-yeung, Drone Hits British Airways Plane: Hong Kong’s Safety Rules for Flying Drones, (South China Morning Post), April 18, 2016, http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1936794/drone-hits-british-airways-plane-hong-kongs-safety.
30. Poulsen, “Why the US Government is Terrified of Hobbyist Drones”.
31. Mike Elgan, How to Shoot a Drone out of the Sky, (Computerworld), December 3, 2016, http://www.computerworld.com/article/3147045/robotics/how-to-shoot-a-drone-out-of-the-sky.html.
32. Jeff J Roberts, “France Is Training Eagles to Kill Drones,” Fortune, February 23, 2017, http://fortune.com/2017/02/22/drones-eagles-france/.
33. “The Benefits of Low Power ADS-B for UAS,” INSIDE UNMANNED SYSTEMS January 31, 2017, http://insideunmannedsystems.com/benefits-low-power-ads-b-uas/.
34. Jing Y Chan, “Manned-Unmanned Teaming—An Analysis Of UAVs And Their Interoperability With Manned Aircraft,” Pointer 42, no. 1 (March 1, 2016).
35. Department of Defense Announces Successful Micro-Drone Demonstration, (U.S. Department Of Defense), January 2017, https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1044811/department-of-defense-announces-successful-micro-drone-demonstration.
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The Proliferation of Small Drones: Trends, Implications and Recommendations For Singapore
ME5 Ng Wei Rong is currently Officer Commanding in 7 Air Engineering and
Logistics Group (AELG). He graduated from ICL with a Master of Engineering in
Mechanical Engineering. ME5 Ng is an Air Force Engineer by vocation, and was
previously Staff Assistant to the Chief of Air Force.
MAJ Sim Bao Chen is currently a Branch Head in SAF Information Group, Joint
Operations Department. He graduated from Imperial College London (ICL) with a
Master of Engineering in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. MAJ Sim is an Air
Warfare Officer by vocation, and was previously the Battery Commander of Bravo
Battery in the 3rd Divisional Air Defence Artillery Battalion.
ME6 David Bey is an Air Force Engineer by vocation. He has a Bachelor of
Engineering and a Master of Defence Technology and Systems, both from the
National University of Singapore (NUS), and a Master of Science in Systems
Engineering from Cranfield University, UK. He has worked in F-16 and Heron-1
system engineering positions in Air Engineering and Logistics Department (AELD),
and F-16 ground maintenance positions in Air Power Generation Command
(APGC) and Air Combat Command (ACC). He is currently on course in the Air
Command and Staff College, US.
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