Illegal Drone Production

In recent years, there has been a marked rise in the sale of unauthorized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) on Mozambique’s black market. This troubling—and potentially dangerous—development has not gone unnoticed by local authorities. Amovant (The Mozambique Association of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) has called on unlicensed firms to comply with local regulations.

Potential threats to airport and infrastructure security have been uncovered as well. An unidentified drone was recently spotted over the Xipamanine neighborhood in close proximity to Maputo International Airport. This area holds critical tactical importance with flights from Maputo passing through its airspace. According to reports, unauthorized drones have also been spotted recording construction of the Maputo-KaTembe bridge, another key location for airplane flights.

A Growing Trend

In recent years, developing technology has allowed unmanned aerial vehicles to become a far greater threat than the occasional paparazzi spying incident or intrusion into a sporting event.

As drones have become more affordable and learning to fly a consumer model has turned into mere child’s play, rogue regimes and terrorist groups have begun tapping into this valuable entity. Terrorist attacks and state espionage carried out from the safety of the open skies have become a real and present danger facing anti-terrorism units worldwide.

As the threats have increased, security firms have scrambled to meet the new challenge. A number of solutions are currently available that allow operators to neutralize drones by hacking into their WiFi or jamming their signal.