Posted by Water resilience now faces a growing roster of kinetic threats in addition to longstanding weather-driven challenges
Weather has threatened water infrastructure since the dawn of human civilization. Now, warheads are also on the threat menu. The proliferation and use of long-range, highly affordable one-way attack drones is at the forefront of this new risk picture. Iran struck desalination facilities in both Bahrain and Kuwait during the first weeks of the ongoing conflict.
As more actors around the world acquire—and use—such systems, it is imperative for water utilities to engage the uncomfortable questions of “could it happen here, how could it happen, and how can we harden ourselves to protect the millions of people who depend on us for water?”
Drinking water and wastewater treatment plants typically house critical processes and equipment in light industrial buildings designed to resist normal weather, not high explosives and supersonic shrapnel. They are not made to deal with strike munitions of any size, and certainly not larger drones like the Shahed types Russia and Iran use or the LUCAS system now used by the US military. These types of drones carry warheads that are 40 lbs or larger, can fly 500 miles or more, and are highly accurate.
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/992432/lucas-drone-launch
Full Article: Gabriel Collins. “The drone threat to water infrastructure.” Wastewater Digest, June 12, 2026. https://www.wwdmag.com/utility-management/article/55383686/the-drone-threat-to-water-infrastructure. Linked from https://gabrielcollins.substack.com/p/the-drone-threat-to-water-infrastructure