Recently there was an extraordinary attack, the kind that signifies that we are entering a new period in the history of war. Throughout the night of January 5, the Russian forces in Syria were attacked by a whole flock of drones. This is the first attack of its kind ever, but it certainly won't be the last.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, thirteen drones - probably belonging to one of the opposing forces in Syria - flew over the Russian forces and dropped small home-made bombs on the soldiers and vehicles. And if the use of drones isn't enough to spark the imagination, it turns out that the bombs themselves were equipped with plastic fins printed on a home XNUMXD printer.
The drones themselves are far from impressive weapons of war. They consist of a combination of wood and plastic parts glued together, plus a plexus to carry the bombs. Even so, we already know that today's armies are not prepared to deal well with these weapons. Drones are difficult to shoot down with conventional weapons such as machine guns, and most missiles are unable to lock onto the location of the drones due to their small radar signature and minimal heat signature.
Despite all this, it does not appear that the drone strike significantly harmed the Russian forces. According to the reports, the Russians used anti-aircraft weapons to successfully destroy some of the drones, and activated electromagnetic weapons of an unknown type, using which they blocked remote control of the drones. In the short term, it is clear that the attack failed.
But what about the long term?
Looking to the future, it is easy to guess that drones are going to take a significant part in combat. In the United States alone, one can find a number of different programs for integrating entire drone fleets in the war: the Perdix project, for example, recently demonstrated[1] the launch of 103 drones from an airplane in the air, each of which weighs less than half a kilo, and all fly and communicate together in order to carry out a specific mission. Other projects include LOCUST, in which a ship launches dozens of autonomous drones into the air[2], and even the use of missiles that will launch dozens of smart drones, each of which will be armed with a small armor-piercing missile[3].
Why the great enthusiasm for drones? Simple: they provide an alternative to large, bulky and expensive weapons, which can be put out of action by one hit. A squadron of drones can continue to function and carry out the mission even if some drones are damaged. And as mentioned, they have a small radar signature and a low heat signature that allow them to evade detection and interception from the sky.
None of this means that drones will be 'invincible' in the future. Like any new weapon, the armies today are not yet ready for them, but in the next war we will know how to deal with them better. Communication with the drones can be interrupted in certain ways, in order to prevent them from being controlled remotely, for example. And at least as of today, drones are still quite noisy, so it is difficult to use them to carry out silent attacks on military bases.
And despite the difficulties along the way, it's hard not to be impressed by the drones' potential on the battlefield. It is likely that already in the next decade drone helicopters will be developed that will be able to deal respectfully with human fighters, with armored vehicles and even with planes worth tens of millions of dollars. And we should be ready for them.
If you are interested in reading more about the future of drones, terrorism, and in general about the way technology will affect society, you are invited to read the books "The Dominators of the Future" (Link to purchase).
Sources
[1] https://www.stripes.com/news/pentagon-unveils-perdix-micro-drone-swarm-1.448124
Comments
It's a bit embarrassing that the person who put the picture and wrote the caption below doesn't know the difference between a drone and a Tisan.
The IDF also uses drones.. "Sky rider" is one of them. But this is not an offensive drone. It is used for observation only
Today's attack drones are nothing more than a gimmick.
For the purposes of observation and directing fire, yes.
Maybe for guerrillas it is suitable when the goal is more harassment than effective damage
It's a drone not a drone.