Drones' Proliferation: Should We Worry? (original) (raw)

Weaponization of Commercial Drones is a Global Threat

Security Technology Executive Magazine, 2022

This article reviews how commercial UAS aircraft are being weaponized and pose a growing global security threat. Drones are being used from espionage, surveillance; contraband delivery, IED delivery, and even assassination. But there are no systematic data bases to measure their threat profile. The Biden administration in April 2022 proposed The Domestic Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems National Action Plan. This has not been fully implemented but offers important strategic principles that are needed. Today in Ukraine there are battlefield lessons that are informing military and miscreant actors alike. These translate into new domestic security preparedness requirements that must be addressed.

The availability and military use of UAVs

SIPRI literature review on the availability and military use of UAVs for the Policy and Operations Evaluations Department of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs , 2017

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), or drones, are aircraft without an onboard pilot that are remotely controlled by a ground-based operator. This technology has existed for decades, but has attracted growing attention in the past 15 years due to its increased use in armed conflicts by a growing number of states. Furthermore, the technology has developed rapidly over the past 15 years, enabling new uses and presenting new challenges for regulation. This section discusses the state of the technology, maps out the key concerns related to its proliferation and use, and takes stock of the debate on the need for international regulation of armed UA Vs.

THE IMPORTANCE OF DRONES IN MODERN WARFARE AND ARMED CONFLICTS

Kutbilim Journal of Social Sciences Vol.1, Issue 2 , 2021

This article analyzes the importance of drones in modern warfare and armed conflicts. It explains how states and non-state actors use drones for various purposes. The United States of America was the first country globally to use drones twenty years ago to eliminate dangerous terrorists. George W. Bush was the first president of USA who used drones for counterterrorism operations in different countries. Drones proved to be very effective tool during the war on terror. If USA used drones only as killing machines for the elimination of terrorists, Azerbaijan was the first country that used them for military purposes in the war against Armenia. The massive usage of drones by the armed forces first took place in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 2020. This conflict often referred to as the "war of drones," demonstrated how effective drones could be in modern warfare if used wisely and rationally. This conflict has shown that even a small state can achieve total air supremacy in the conflict if it uses drones properly and effectively. After the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, the number of states willing to purchase drones has increased considerably. However, it is also noteworthy that not only states are interested in drones, but also terrorist organizations and aggressive non-state actors. Many terrorist organizations have started to use drones in order to achieve their goals. One of the main challenges that faces states today is to develop effective defense mechanisms to neutralize and eliminate threats coming from drones quickly. The research question of this paper is: how did the usage of drones affected modern warfare and what are the advantages and disadvantages of the massive usage of drones? The main goal of this article is to find out positive and negative sides of the usage of drones in modern warfare. The aim of this article is also to find what threats to do the states face because of the massive usage of drones by the terrorist organizations.

Terrorist and Insurgent Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Use, Potentials, and Military Implications

2015

: This manuscript focuses on the present threat posed by terrorist and insurgent use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as well as the associated future threat potentials identified. The work presents a counterintuitive analysis in the sense that armed drones are typically viewed as a component of America s conventional warfighting prowess not a technology that would be used against U.S. troops deployed overseas or against civilians back home. Utilizing a red teaming approach, the author, Dr. Robert J. Bunker, a past Minerva Chair at our institution, investigates the emerging threat of such UAV use. His unique analysis and creative approach, especially when related to the threat scenario variants generated, make for very informative reading. The work is divided into an introduction to the topical area, a UAV historical overview and discussion of present use by the U.S. military, a chronological narrative of terrorist and insurgent UAV use (and attempted use) from 1994 through 2015, ...

Drones as a Permanent and Present Danger

2020

Reason(s) for writing and research problem(s): The lack of research on drone attacks in the West Balkans, but also within the European Union, has influenced our decision to conduct case study analysis of drone incidents occurring in the world, but also in our surrounding, in order to think how to prevent those in our own "backyard". Aims of the paper (scientific and/or social): This article intends to present significant security and operational information on drone attacks from cases detected in various surroundings. Methodology/Design: Methodology used in the paper includes case studies of drone attacks in certain countries, in order to evaluate these incidents from security and operational aspects. Research/paper limitations: Limitations refer to possible unregistered activities in the form of new modus operandi of perpetrators involving drone attacks. Results/Findings: The findings presented in this paper show a cross-section of attack vectors and modus operandi used by perpetrators, as well as vulnerabilities found at targeted institutions and objects. Those findings are to be considered for future prevention of perpetrators activities. General conclusion: There is a real need to improve and modernize general security measures related to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. This article points to such necessity at several different levels and aspects through the analysis of attack vectors, modus operandi, and the weaknesses of the attacked targets. Research/paper validity: Findings presented in this article can be used to direct future research in this field, in order to strengthen and develop various measures to combat existing and persistent threats posed by drones.

THE UTILIZATION OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES (UAV) FOR MILITARY ACTION IN FOREIGN AIRSPACE

2014

What can be understood as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), also referred to as drones or RPVs (Remotely Piloted Vehicles), are pilotless aerial vehicles which can be guided either through remote control by a military squad in its home country or that can navigate autonomously based on a pre-programmed software. The main arguments for the effectiveness of a drone strategy can be subdivided into four separate claims: (1) drones are effective at killing terrorists with minimal civilian casualties; (2) drones have been successful at killing so called ‘high value targets’ (HVTs); (3) using drones puts such pressure on terrorist organizations that it degrades their organizational capacity and ability to strike; and (4) the cost–benefit analysis of their use relative to other options—such as the deployment of ground troops—provides a compelling argument in their favor. However, a direct and grave implication of drone warfare is the issue of sovereignty. A considerable percentage of drone operations make use of foreign airspace without the express formal authorization of central governments. By a simple and rational perspective, such acts constitute disrespect to states sovereignty and should, therefore, be condemned by all signatories of the Charter of the United Nations – especially when the non-transparency of the attacks is taken into account. As seen, the topic does not only contain highly controversial questions about the theoretical usage of drones, but also inserts several regions, where drones are militarily operational, into discussion.

Use of weaponized unmanned aerial veHiCles (uAVs) supported by gis as a groWing terrorist tHreAt

2020

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are one of the most advanced achievements of modern technology widely used by contemporary states. They have developed as an important tool for national security and commercial industries. Although they offer immense security benefits, UAVs can also open up new threats and opportunities in conducting terrorist attacks. The increased use in both state and private sectors reduces the cost of the UAVs therefore making them easily accessible tools for terrorist organizations. The pioneering attacks conducted by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria – ISIS (2016) have highlighted the capability of terrorist organizations and individual terrorists to deploy commercially available UAVs in order to attack their state adversaries. Even though the first ISIS UAV operations focused on conducting reconnaissance operations in Iraq and Syria, the organization continued further and started using them to attack Kurdish, Iraqi and Turkish forces. This is only an isolated ca...

The Strategy of Drone Warfare

There is a budding controversy with the combat use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA). Also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), there is a growing literature critiquing the use of RPAs, often using the pejorative term "drone." RPAs seem to get the blame for a variety of complaints about policy and employment that have little to do with the airframe or its processes. While all of the military functions of an RPA can and are done by manned aircraft, the RPAs must endure additional scrutiny. The decision to employ RPAs requires additional considerations at both the strategic and operational levels of war. This article explores the strategic issues that govern the decisions to employ RPAs in combat. The decision to employ RPAs involves a variety of strategic and operational concerns involving legal issues, technological constraints, operational efficiency, and an interdependency upon information operations.

Technological developments and implications of autonomous military drones: prospects in global geopolitics

Revista Tecnológica - ESPOL

This article aims to characterize the unmanned drones used in the new global military defense strategies, considering the technological developments associated with artificial intelligence and robotics. In this sense, a documentary study was carried out to identify the most representative developments in the market of autonomous military drones, observing their implications in present and future war scenarios. The study established the implications that autonomous weapons are taking in global geopolitics, assuming changes in the way of incorporating intelligent technologies to improve the autonomy of drones to face the requirements of defense and attack demanded by the new battlefield scenarios. This scenario gives a glimpse of the coming years of the increase of drones as lethal weapons of low cost and high precision, whose deployment in various scenarios will be more effective in military operations of various kinds.

The Drones and Issues Connected with Their Use in Contemporary Conflicts

International conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION

The text deals with the development and methods of use of Drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in contemporary conflicts or special operations. The contribution tries to present the main advantages of these vehicles as being the main reasons for their current use in armed forces of state as well as non-state actors and their dynamic proliferation in global space in past years. We can observe a new trend in the armed conflict in the last two decades - use of advanced systems of unmanned vehicles in such a range that many military and academic experts talk about a new wave of revolutionary changes in the military affairs. This wave, or we could even talk about militarytechnological breakthrough should lead to imminent use of these systems in contemporary as well as future conflicts which would result in the partial or complex robotization of the battlefield. Specific attention is dedicated to controversies tied to the use of Drones/Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in socalled Drone Warfare and ...