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Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

While the Pentagon is warning Americans of plans by terrorists to use drone aircraft to attack cities with chemical and biological agents, a similar threat is posed by the use radio-controlled model planes packed with explosives, reports Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
Israeli intelligence sources say a number of Hamas terrorists were killed and injured recently while assembling an explosive device to be mounted on a radio-controlled model plane. Those sources tell the online intelligence newsletter they have had information dating back to October 2001 about Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations' efforts to collect data about remote-controlled airplanes – mostly from the Internet.

While the U.S. government fears terrorists may be ready to assemble larger drones already smuggled into America, it's much easier and cheaper for terrorists to build and use these smaller models. For between $4,000 and $5,000, terrorists can buy a remote-controlled airplane capable of carrying a payload of up to 40 pounds, according to G2 Bulletin sources.

Because of the terror threat, the Homeland Security Department has asked the FBI to look into the legal ramifications of building and marketing model mini-airplanes and mini-helicopters for commercial use. A provision within the obscure regulations of the Homeland Security Act is already threatening to shut down the popular hobby of model rocketry in the United States because the propellant to make the solid-fuel is a classified as an explosive material.

Another aspect for the use of mini-aircraft, and even short-range rockets, is the ability to use them as carriers for delivering dangerous chemical and biological agents, reports G2 Bulletin. These agents can be sprayed easily by a mini-helicopter designated for crop-dusting.

A British analyst warned, in a paper distributed to the intelligence community, that mini-helicopters can be launched from a backyard, a balcony, a roof top, a truck and even vessels. "They can hover over a site for at least 30 minutes and sprinkle death and mayhem," he said.

In most cases, the assumption is that commercially oriented radio-controlled crafts, or terrorist knockoffs, can stay in the air for about 30 minutes and that the operator needs to have constant eye contact with the craft. But hobby clubs and other amateurs are developing radio-controlled mini-aircraft carrying real-time video cameras and transmitters, which allow the operation of more than one vehicle. The first radio-controlled aircraft would be carrying the cargo, and when it moves beyond the sight range of the controller, the second aircraft takes over and transmits the necessary information.

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