Tag Archive for: Drone
Air Defense and the Limits of Drone Technology
Editor’s Note: Drones are often heralded as revolutionizing warfare, but recent experiences in Ukraine and elsewhere suggest that these systems have many vulnerabilities. Drawing on their longer research, Antonio Calcara, Andrea Gilli, Mauro Gilli, and Ivan Zaccagnini argue that drones are highly vulnerable to air defenses and that highly-trained humans are vital for drones to be their most effective.
Daniel Byman
***
After two decades of hype, the war in Ukraine is prompting a reevaluation of the utility of military drones. Ukrainian forces used Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones to great effect in the early days of the conflict, and the United States has discussed selling Ukraine MQ-1C Gray Eagles. But as the war has progressed, these platforms have become less effective. According to a Ukrainian air force pilot interviewed by Foreign Policy magazine, Turkish TB2s “were very useful and important in the very first days [of the war], stopping those columns [of armored vehicles], but now that [the Russians have] built up good air defenses, they’re almost useless.” Another Ukrainian air force pilot echoed this sentiment, telling Breaking Defense, “[I]t’s very dangerous to use such expensive drones [like the Gray Eagle], in our case, because of [the] enemy’s air defense …. It’s not Afghanistan here.” Along the same lines, military analysts writing for The Drive note that U.S. defense planners have a similar assessment. “[T]he U.S. Army has reached many of the same conclusions about the [Gray Eagle]’s ability to survive even in environments with relatively limited threats,” they write. “The U.S. Air Force has been looking to move away from the MQ-9 Reaper, the Gray Eagle’s larger cousin, for the same reasons.”
These assessments contradict the dominant narrative that military drones are a war-winning weapons system. Early on during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, for instance, some observers cheered Turkish drones as a decisive weapon, so much so that there have been popular fundraising initiatives to purchase more TB2s for Ukraine. Similar narratives emerged during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan and during the battle for…
AI powered drone new tool of warfare
Real-time systems using AI for navigation and guidance, coordination, self-healing, target identification and acquisition & munition delivery systems are a strategic asset. Drone warfare is asymmetric and is almost mainstream. A bit like guerrilla warfare as it is low cost. Drones are dispensable; off the shelf commercial technology can be used, say Bhargav and Aveek Sen
Command, control, communications and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) are becoming a most essential element in modern military operations. Countries with artificial intelligence powered drone have baffled their enemies in the war zone. AI powered drone swarms are the new tool of warfare and as of now are unregulated by weapons control regulations.
Though Israel and Turkey have successfully used them, India too is not far behind. On November 17, 2021, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) demonstrated offensive capabilities of its drone swarms at a three-day “RashtraRakshaSamarpanParv” in Jhansi. It was impressive.
The country that makes advances quickly joins an elite club that might evade future restrictions.
“The DRDO demonstrated fully operational decentralised UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) swarm comprising 25 drones flying coherently with minimal human intervention, during Rashtriya Raksha Samarpan Parv during Jhansi Jalsa,” reported PTI.
In mid-May 2021, the latest developments on these weapons systems occurred when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), during the recent clashes in Gaza, used a swarm of AI drones for the first time to geolocate, target, and strike Hamas members.
Israel is making major advances in AI-driven technology.
The IDF did debut “drone swarms to seek and attack hidden targets” in the May war in Gaza. The Ghost Unit, which is part of the Paratroopers Brigade, has been using “packs of drones”. The IDF used a swarm of AI-guided drones and supercomputing to comb through data and identify new targets within the Gaza Strip. It is thought this is the first time a swarm of AI drones has been used in combat.”
The drones used so far are navigated in two ways — either remotely…
Jammu drone strike marks dangerous escalation by Pak
It is vital that we do not let ourselves get trapped in a defensive and reactive stance, confined to consequence management. The emphasis must shift from mere protection to punishment.
On Sunday, 27 June, Pakistan crossed a significant escalation threshold in its asymmetric war in Jammu and Kashmir. Two drones struck the strategic air base of Jammu between 0127 and 0130 hours in the morning. They came at the height of 100m and dropped 2 kg charges of high-grade military explosives (probably RDX) with impact detonators. Their likely targets were the helicopters hanger and Air Control Tower (ACT), but they missed. One created a hole in the roof of a concrete building and the other exploded on the ground. Two Air Force boys were injured slightly. This was a significant qualitative escalation in the asymmetric war being waged in Kashmir. By using drones to target a strategic air base, Pakistan had ushered in the era of drone warfare in South Asia with a low cost- high impact strike using COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf Technology) of quad copter drones. The simple fact is that such plastic, battery operated drones have a zero radar cross-section and are very difficult to detect and even harder to stop. Thus, they are a very optimal and cost- effective solution for any attacker. The defender will always be at disadvantage in such a scenario.
Post the strike, there was the usual strident media outcry. How were we caught napping again, especially since intelligence agencies had warned us that drones may be employed? Such scapegoat seeking narratives betray a complete ignorance of the technological complexities involved in detecting and shooting down such small drones. The fact is, Indian Air Force (IAF) is well equipped to detect and deal with HALE (High Altitude Long Endurance) and MALE (Mid Altitude Long Endurance) class of larger drones, but such small and cheap drones present an entirely different set of problems.
ERA OF DRONE WARFARE
Drones have been extensively employed for decades now. Surprisingly, their use in fact dates back to the Vietnam War. Their employment in the Bosnia conflict indicated their vulnerability in a dense AD environment….