DRONES AND WARFARE

THE GLOBAL RACE FOR ADVANCEMENT IN DRONE TECHNOLOGY—FROM ENTERTAINMENT AND SCIENCE TO MILITARY—IS NOT ONLY SHAPING THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD, BUT HAS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE BALANCE OF POWER AS WELL. GIVEN THIS SCENARIO, BHARAT NEEDS TO AUGMENT ITS DRONE INFRASTRUCTURE

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The "Drone Age" dawned during the Vietnam War for reconnaissance in early 1970. During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Israeli military deployed modified U.S. drones for surveillance and as decoys. Only around 2000 did the US weaponise-drones, adding Hellfire antitank missiles onto the Predator.

Most importantly, Unarmed Aircraft Systems (UASs) or UAVs and UACVs are cheap, easy to make, less escalatory than fighters, autonomous in future models and not involve risk of lives. UASs will likely have significant utility for both broad-based competition and warfare in the future. UASs combine both platforms and systems capable of collecting intelligence over vast geographic areas, striking targets if necessary, and operating in a contested environment. They can operate in close, short and mid-range and as endurance systems. Besides, Drones are easy to weaponise. Even commercial drones can carry a 1,000-pound payload. Besides, even low-powered drones can deliver biological weapons or nuclear materials. These can hover, that allows them to stay on target, that initially made drones so essential for reconnaissance in warfare and for tracking the enemy. In 2017, a diesel-powered drone, the Vanilla Aircraft VA001, conducted a five-day continuous flight—landing with three days of fuel left to spare.