Recent Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) or drone developments have taken the military world by storm. The respected London-based Economist has cited Azerbaijan's highly effective use of drones in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Turkey's use of drones in the Syrian Civil War as indicating the future of warfare. It noted Azerbaijani tactics and Turkey's use of drones as indicating a new, more affordable type of airpower. It also noted that the ability of drones to record their kills enabled an effective propaganda campaign.
The multiple swarm attacks on the Russian Khmeimim Air Base in Syria throughout January-November 2018 were significantly being termed as the world’s “first” (more later) drone attack. The 2019 Abqaiq-Khurais and 2020 Baghdad International Airport attack all justify the assessment by the Economist that a major Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) has occurred which cannot be set aside without severe degradation of a country’s military capability and ability to the conduct of its warfighting.
Author Stefan Borg in a recent article writes that for their advocates, the relatively cheaper UAVs promise precision in targeting, thus allowing wars to be waged with virtually no risks to the lives of one’s own forces and with far fewer civilian casualties than hitherto. To their critics, UAVs dissolve the Clausewitzian understanding of war as a struggle between wills into pure killing. While the use of Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs) - also called armed UAVs- dates back to the US intervention in Afghanistan in 2001, unarmed UAVs have been in use for military purposes since the 1930s. Today, 90 countries use UAVs; up from 17 countries in 2000. In time to come, all countries will possess UAVs in various configurations.
この記事は Geopolitics の August 2021 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Geopolitics の August 2021 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Lessons From Gaza And Lebanon
The ongoing war, loosely called the Gaza War, is actually being fought in two different loosely connected segments; against the Hamas with a spill off in the West Bank and East Jerusalem areas against Palestinian factions and against the Hezbollah in Lebanon with a spill off in Syria. Treating Israel-Hamas War and the Lebanon War as separate entities, RAJ MEHTA explains the lessons from these wars
POSITIVE STEPS TOWARDS POTENTIAL REGIONAL COOPERATION
It has been a whirlwind of diplomatic activity for India recently. India participated in both the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation SCO) summit that took place in Islamabad on October 15-16, and the 16th BRICS Summit was held in Kazan, Russia, from October 2224, 2024. These back-to-back summits within a short span of time underscore India's active role in shaping regional and global diplomacy, balancing national interests with multilateral cooperation
THE EAGLE'S EYE TEJAS MK-II RADAR PIERCES VEIL OF THE SKY
The Tejas Mk-II, featuring DRDO's GaN-based Uttam AESA radar, marks a major leap in India's defence, enhancing range, precision, and multi-target tracking capabilities, highlights GIRISH LINGANNA
PRIME MOVER
The indigenously developed Wheeled Armoured Platform (WhAP) has received a boost with its first export order from the Kingdom of Morocco
TRANSFORMATIONAL INDUCTION
The GA-ASI MQ-9B will dramatically enhance the ISR and precision strike capabilities of the Indian armed forces
TACAN PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION
Navigation systems have evolved significantly since the Viking era, with Tactical Air Navigation TACAN) now widely used for air and sea travel. Post-World War Il, reliable systems became essential for safety and efficiency, as highlighted by DR. SUJAN KUMAR SARASWATI, in this article on TACAN’s operational principles.
AIRBORNE TRACKER
Indigenous efforts towards AEW&C and AWACS platforms need to be stepped up even as international programmes extend the current state-of-the-art for such aircraft, highlights
AFFORDABLE LETHALITY THE INDIAN DILEMMA
India's defence dilemma is now being complicated by the lessons learnt in the Ukraine and Gaza wars because these conflicts are reshaping the way wars are fought in the modern world.
FROM IMPORTS TO SELF-RELIANCE IN ARMS
Self-reliance in Defence Production needs new ideas, new definitions _es and an appropriate methodology, argues AMIT COWSHISH
"THE INDIAN AIR FORCE IS WORKING HARD TO REMAIN A CREDIBLE AIR FORCE"
Commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on December 21, 1984, Air Chief Marshal AMAR PREET SINGH PVSM AVSM took over as the 28th Air Chief of India on September 30, 2024.