In Over Their Heads: US Ground Forces are Dangerously Unprepared for Enemy Drones

The so-called "drone wars" started as an exclusive assassination program carried out by the CIA against alleged terrorist leaders. Using large and expensive aircraft, the US was able to project power in a way it had never been able to before, and could do so while keeping pilots out of harm's way.

Despite the questionable effectiveness of US drone strikes in the War On Terror, these early drones represented the opening of a new Pandora's box for militaries around the world.

In the winter of 2016, I was on the front line of the war in Donbass, where the Ukrainian military engaged in day-in-day-out battles with Russian-backed separatist forces. While much of the fighting used technology and tactics from World War I, there was one curious addition: drones. Both sides deployed a wide range of consumer and militarized drones mainly for observation, but also increasingly in a striking role.

Meanwhile as the battle for Mosul began in northern Iraq, ISIS deployed an innovative new weapon: consumer drones slightly modified to give them the ability to drop small bombs. While occasionally they caused great damage, they mostly served to damage morale and make advances against their fortified urban positions just that much harder.

The US, on the other hand, has lagged behind. Its drones are large and too expensive to be deployed in large numbers. More worryingly, in the next major conflict the US fights, be it against a nation state or a non-state actor, the explosion in armed drones has meant that the US will for the first time in more than 50 years, not enjoy air superiority.

Jonathan Gillis' article for War on the Rocks, explains in-depth the way the US has fallen behind in drone technology, and how this could impact their military in the future. Indeed, in doing so he succinctly sums up one of the greatest changes coming to modern warfare since the creation of the atomic bomb.