New tech disrupts global order

News media tend to focus on the world’s major powers because they command more resources by dint of their relatively larger economies, militaries and energy endowments. But there are costs to such dominance.

- MARK BLYTH DANIEL DRISCOLL

For example, a single American Gerald R Ford-class aircraft carrier costs $13 billion (421.6 billion baht), while the F-35 fighter jet costs about $100 million. So, if you can build your military equipment for less than your opponent, you can gain a strategic advantage.

But even those advantages are slipping as key technologies reshuffle military and power asymmetries. Specifically, cheap drones, phones, and solar are disrupting the global order. The most obvious example is in the military domain, where drones are allowing “weaker” countries to inflict significant damage on larger opponents.

Ukraine has revolutionised drone warfare and is now churning out more than 200,000 first-person-view (FPV) drones per month. Producing them does not require a massive military industrial complex or high capital expenditures; anyone can buy commercial versions of FPVs for under $300. Moreover, these low costs belie the technology's power. FPV drones can easily slip through enemy defences and surveil targets for hours. They can deliver precision strikes or adapt to multiple roles. How many would it take to disable a Ford-class carrier, and at what fraction of the carrier's cost?