DRONE USE AND DISPLACED KILL ZONES TACTICAL THEORY

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.

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This paper looks at Infantry Drone Units' organization and roles that have developed organically in the war in Ukraine ecosystem as a response to emerging use of the technology. In 2018, it was anticipated, "a future possibility for lone combatants on foot to operate one or possible more small UAVs as an extension of his or her own means to combat an opponent." 1 In a recent report about United States Army soldiers from the 1st Squadron War Eagles (2nd Cavalry Regiment), the Human factors element in the emerging use of drones is central to using the technology: "Our soldiers are observing trends on the battlefield. They're then seeing where we have capability gaps, and they're finding low-cost solutions to innovate" 2. The type of role change in basic Infantry skills, are: "Our soldiers are 3D printing, they're doing basic soldering, they're doing basic coding using code like Python or C++ to create low-cost solutions to tactical problems they are seeing" 3. In a recent interview with an Escadrone spokesman 4 , they stated: "FPV kamikaze is about pilots, not about drones" 5. This is because: "using an FPV drone effectively requires considerable skill … flying an FPV drone is not so hard. But if you want to use it like a weapon, you have train for a month … because it's very difficult to hit a moving target at high speed." 6 It should be noted, while Human factors are a key element in the use of drones, there is also an emerging substitution with Artificial Intelligence with this entity standing-in for the Human pilot. In comparison to a United States Switchblade 300 drone, "it can lock on to moving targets and track them automatically" 7. The same technology may reach FPV kamikazes drones soon, "thanks to new AI chips for drones, but at present it is down to operator skill" 8 .

none, 2025

Written using Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) this paper overviews the Ukrainian 13th Khartiia Brigade's use of ground and air drones in Combined Arms Attacks over 2024, and 2025.

Oxford University Press Bibliography on Drone Warfare, 2018

Extensive Bibliography on Drone Warfare. Textbooks and General Overviews Conceptual Questions Drone History and Historical Research Debates and Controversies Ethics US Politics International Implications International Politics Geopolitics Nonstate Drone Use Critical Literature Geography Public Opinion

International Security

According to the accepted wisdom in security studies, unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones, have revolutionizing effects on war and world politics. Drones allegedly tilt the military balance in favor of the offense, reduce existing asymmetries in military power between major and minor actors, and eliminate close combat from modern battlefields. A new theory about the hider-finder competition between air penetration and air defense shows that drones are vulnerable to air defenses and electronic warfare systems, and that they require support from other force structure assets to be effective. This competition imposes high costs on those who fail to master the set of tactics, techniques, procedures, technologies, and capabilities necessary to limit exposure to enemy fire and to detect enemy targets. Three conflicts that featured extensive employment of drones—the Western Libya military campaign of the second Libyan civil war (2019–2020), the Syrian civil war (2011–2021), and t...

The paper delves into the shifting dynamics of international relations in the age of Drone warfare. Through this paper, I explore the complex and morally ambiguous terrain of Drone Warfare in the era of globalisation as the boundaries between nationalism and terrorism are perpetually blurring, striking concerns with the questions of military regulation and ethics surrounding the battlefield and the delegation of AI in decision making during warfare. This paper throws light on the moral dilemma of the operators sitting miles away from the conflict zone, detached from war’s immediate consequence and also centres around accountability and the implication of abdication of human agency within international law.

The emergence and development of the Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAV), generally known as drones has revolutionised the conduct of war. Although the primary purpose of drones was to do surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence gathering, they were armed to be used as a new military tactic for counterinsurgency campaigns, or the so called the 'War on Terror'. Drone use in warfare has been one of the most controversial issues at international level, with a high scepticism about its legacy and effectiveness. Therefore in order to crystallize the fundamental changes in the warfare brought about since the emergence of drones, this paper would initially consider the historical emergence of drones by answering the questions how, when and why they were invented. Secondly, it would illustrate on the major differences of contemporary drone warfare to pre-modern and modern warfare. Thirdly, it would focus on its strength and weakness in conducting wars as a weapon for targeted killings, and finally it would conclude by assessing the moral, ethical and legal aspects of drones and their future proliferation. The history of drones can be referred back as far as 18th century, during which around 200 pilotless balloons containing bombs were used by Austrians against the city of Venice in 1849. Later on, similar balloons were used in US civil war in 1862 and Spanish-American War in 1898 for the purpose of reconnaissance and bombardment.

2020

Turkey and Russia are learning how to operationally use a new type of twentyfirstcentury warfare—unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) warfare. Many historical analogies can be traced to the advent of new types of weapons and resulting strategies implemented for their use in a direct, kinetic confrontation. UAVs have existed since the Cold War, but in the 1990s few countries possessed firstgeneration UAV technologies. Russia and Turkey joined the military UAV technology club relatively late, and both set a straightforward aim toward creating their own indigenous drones—first for utilitybased roles and then purely combat drones. Russia achieved the first aim, but Turkey soon managed to field its own combat drone. However, Russia has a larger UAV fleet. The beginning of 2020 nearly witnessed Russia and Turkey in direct kinetic war, initially due to a successful Syrian offensive against Turkishbacked rebel forces. This success forced Turkey to enter a war against the Syrian Army, and from 27 F...

Published in Research Methods in Critical Security Studies: An Introduction, M. Salter and C. Mutlu, eds, London and New York: Routledge, 2012, chap. 31.

Over the past few years, there has been some noise over "drone" 1 attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan. While it remains true that the vast majority of drones in service are still used for reconnaissance and surveillance missions, 2 new prototypes (exemplified by the MQ-9 Reapermore or less an "armed" Predator drone) are designed for combat missions and have become weapon systems specifically made to kill people, being able to take out targets with advanced guided weaponry.

2013

The US-led global war on terror, the US Af-Pak strategy, the phenomenon of terrorism and the employment of predator drones by the US administration in various parts of the world and particularly in Pakistan has drawn criticism on drone warfare. The introduction of armed drones to kill individuals or destroy targets inside other countries' territories has raised various important questions of the rationale, necessity, targeting strategy and mechanism of drone operations. Moreover, the important notions of state sovereignty, monopoly over use of force and territorial integrity have also been put to test by the use of force in the form of armed drones, against individuals inside other states, without the formal declaration of wars. In addition, whether global war on terror is to be conducted and fought inside only a few selected states or anywhere where the terrorists are actually or perceived to be based or not. Lastly, the technological, psychological, moral, social and legal imp...

Theory, Culture & Society, 2011

The proponents of late modern war like to argue that it has become surgical, sensitive and scrupulous, and remotely operated Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or ‘drones’ have become diagnostic instruments in contemporary debates over the conjunction of virtual and ‘virtuous’ war. Advocates for the use of Predators and Reapers in counterinsurgency and counterterrorism campaigns have emphasized their crucial role in providing intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance, in strengthening the legal armature of targeting, and in conducting precision-strikes. Critics claim that their use reduces late modern war to a video game in which killing becomes casual. Most discussion has focused on the covert campaign waged by CIA-operated drones in Pakistan, but it is also vitally important to interrogate the role of United States Air Force-operated drones in Afghanistan. In doing so, it becomes possible to see that the problem there may not be remoteness and detachment but, rather, the sense of proxim...

Less than a month had passed since the United States mourned the victims of 9/11 when American born al-Qaeda cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, fell neither at the hands of Yemeni authorities nor through the swiftest measure of justice dragged out in the courtroom. It should come as no surprise that the targeted killing of al-Awlaki, more precisely the CIA drone strike on his vehicle well within Yemeni borders, has become highly politicized – the limelight perhaps – behind this new chapter in modern warfare.

Serbian Journal of Engineering Management

The use of combat drones has been existing for more than a century. Only in recent years have we witnessed how the evolutionary process with the advancement of technology has turned into a real revolution. The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 was one of the turning points in the application of this disruptive technology for combat purposes. As never before, the mass use of combat drones has not decisively influenced the outcome of a conflict. Due to the importance of the mentioned conflict, an SWOT analysis of the possibility of using combat drones in local conflicts was performed. The conclusions drawn can help both in understanding the outcome of the conflict and in defining the direction in which the further application of these combat systems will progress in the future.

International Journal of Technoethics, 2015

The United States is now relying on Reaper and Predator drone strikes as its primary strategy in the continuing War on Terrorism. This paper argues for the rational scrutiny drone warfare has yet to receive. It is argued that drone warfare is immoral as it fails both the jus in bello and the jus ad bellum conditions of Just War theory. Drone warfare cannot be accepted on utilitarian grounds either, as it is very probable that terrorists will acquire drones capable of lethal strikes and deploy them against defenseless civilians. Moreover, by examining the psychological bases for reliance on drone warfare, as well as the message the United States is sending adversaries, we need to be concerned that, rather than reduce the likelihood of terrorists strikes, the U.S. reliance on drones strikes threatens to institutionalize terrorism as the status quo for the foreseeable future.