Extreme Drone Uses – Now Targeted by FAA 

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A drone flamethrower attachment that can allegedly spray fire, and a chainsaw attached to a drone, are only some of the dangerous drone attachments are the subject of a new warning issued by US authorities.  

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has published an explicit warning to the general public, saying that it is illegal to operate a drone with a dangerous weapon attached. “Dangerous Weapon” means any item that is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious bodily injury.

The announcement said: “Perhaps you’ve seen online photos and videos of drones with attached guns, bombs, fireworks, flamethrowers, and other dangerous items. 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.” 

Such conduct is considered a violation of Section 363 of the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act enacted Oct. 5, 2018, according to the warning on faa.gov. 

Operators will be 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. 

According to theverge.com, people in the US certainly have been strapping weapons to their commercial drones since the technology took off a few years ago. There’s been a legal tug-of-war around weaponless drones across the last few years as well.