The Islamic Military Counterterrorism Coalition held today, Thursday, 29/07/2021, at its headquarters in Riyadh, a presentation on (UAVs) delivered by Maj. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, Director of Operations of the United States Central Command. IMCTC Secretary General, member countries’ delegates, personnel, as well as the U.S Delegation accompanying Maj. Gen. Grynkewich, attended the event.
General Grynkewich pointed out that UAVs pose a national security threat to many countries due to their ubiquity, low cost of purchase, ease of manufacturing and the scale of damage they can cause.
He alluded to the fact that many countries as well as business entities manufacture UAVs and sell them for commercial purposes. “The danger of such drones lies in converting them from the commercial and civilian use into military purposes by terrorist groups” he said.
“Many States and countries not only produce this technology, but also export it and send it to their proxies in other countries for subversive purposes” the General said.
Maj. Gen. Grynkewich also referred to the difficulty of defending against drones because they can be programmed by terrorist groups to be launched from different directions, in addition to their small size, which makes it harder to defend because they can go undetected by radar equipment by flying at low altitude.
He concluded his presentation by pointing out that the protection against such attacks lies in the early detection of UAVs at their warehouses and Launch pads before being used. In the meantime, he stressed the importance of close cooperation and coordination among allied nations to be mindful of this peril and take the appropriate precautionary measures before the situation gets out of control, through sharing information and military expertise. “Countries should have some control over their industrial production of UAVs to prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorist groups,” he said.
For his part, IMCTC Secretary-General, Maj. Gen. Mohammed bin Saeed Al-Moghedi, pointed out that this presentation comes within the framework of the joint, multi-faceted counterterrorism cooperation between IMCTC and the U.S. as a supporting country.