Drones take warfare to another level

The 20th century witnessed battles between tank and antitank systems. In the 21st century it is going to be drone and counter-drone systems.

Drones and unpiloted systems will change the entire character of warfare, and aerial combat will radically change the character of war in all domains.

The vulnerability of tanks, piloted aircraft and ships has been glaringly exposed by unpiloted alternatives.

One of the most significant and controversial developments in the brutal war in Ukraine is the unrestrained use of drones over the past few months.

This brings a new and deadly dimension to military strikes. The vicious character of war is shifting in other ways too.

The UN Security Council should punish those who use drones to kill civilians, as is now happening in many parts of the world.

Victims of drone strikes are often killed indiscriminately and without prior trial or fulfilling the Geneva convention criteria for the status of “combatant”.

The sophistication and lethality of unpiloted systems linked to artificial intelligence raises the threat across all military domains.

Swarms of drones equipped with hi-tech weaponry are going to change the concept of defensive and offensive aerial combat.

Non-state actors have also demonstrated that they can construct their own drone systems.

Expanded proliferation of a variety of unmanned attack systems is the greatest asymmetric threat facing nations around the world.

Since 2018 nine countries have acquired sophisticated drone technology.

Non-state actors are actively seeking and acquiring the technology too, and some day humanity will witness another 9/11-like drone attack.

It is time to acknowledge that drone warfare is immoral, unethical and prolongs wars endlessly, with innocent civilians the main victims.