Taking their cues from modern warfare, the far-right American terrorist movement sees off-the-shelf or home-built first-person viewer (FPV) drones as a critical weapon in their own future war against the US government, which has American authorities on edge.

And there’s ample reasons for those fears: in the open and closed online spaces where far-right extremists congregate, talk is commonplace of how these cheap drones are revolutionizing current wars and will be the critical tools of a so-called second civil war.

“The use of FPV drones in the war between Russia and Ukraine, the use of drones by terrorist groups such as ISIS, and the use of drones by violent criminal groups, such as drug cartels, give examples that domestic extremists may seek to emulate or learn from,” said Joshua Fisher-Birch, a professional analyst who has tracked far-right extremists of every ilk, for close to a decade.

“Groups or individuals could potentially use commercial or home-made drones for reconnaissance purposes or in an offensive capacity.”