Homemade 'Predator' drone UAV discovered on Long Island

Police and FBI officials are trying to get to the bottom of a homemade ‘Predator’-like drone they found in Long Island being tested by some fellows in the late of the night. WNBC is breaking this story about the unlicensed UAV (which doesn’t really look like a Predator to be honest) and how it could have carried 800lbs of explosives and was being designed by an Egyptian who entered the US on a Sudanese passport (red flags all around). Some of these facts may eventually change (i.e. a real Predator only carried 450lbs as a payload).

With a GPS interface to a remote control plane, making a ‘homemade cruise missile’ should not be all that difficult. I’ve often wondered if the GPS coordinates around the White House and other sensitive locations are intentionally scrambled to prevent against this sort of thing. It would seem even a person with simple R/C aircraft skills and computer programming could whip something together in no time flat. It does seem that Homeland Security has been studying this threat.