Drone warfare
| Part of a series on |
| War |
|---|
 |
|
Drone warfare is the use of military robots and unmanned systems in warfare. The unmanned systems may be remote controlled by a pilot or have varying levels of autonomy during their mission. Types of unmanned systems and platforms include unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), unmanned surface vehicles (USV) or unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), and unmanned ground vehicles (UGV). SUAVs and MAVs are man-portable UAVs and can be deployed for low-altitude, short-range support operations. Autonomous drones such as autonomous aircraft and LAWS utilize artificial intelligence or pre-programmed algorithms. As of 2019, the following nations have been identified as having operational UCAVs: China, France, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine.
Drones are an expendable force multiplier that may supplement–or reduce the necessity for–live personnel during operations. Military applications of drones range from reconnaissance tasks, kamikaze missions, logistical support, bomb disposal, training and medical evacuation to electronic warfare, anti-air, anti-armor, and anti-personnel roles. However drones are typically tasked with intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) missions, facilitating direct attacks on targets as part of a kill chain or through manned-unmanned teaming. Aerial drone attacks can be conducted via purpose-built UCAVs that launch ordnance during a drone strike, by loitering munitions and one-way attack drones laden with a warhead that explodes on impact, or by civilian UAVs weaponized to deploy munitions or crash into a target. Larger drones can serve a "mothership" role by deploying sub-drones or by providing electronic warfare capabilities such as radio relay. Heavy-lift drones may be used to airlift supplies or evacuate wounded personnel across a battlefield. Multiple drones can operate and attack simultaneously in a drone swarm.
The early years of the 21st century saw most drone strikes being conducted by the US military using air-to-surface missiles against ground targets within countries such as Afghanistan, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen during the war on terror. Drone warfare evolved and proliferated quickly in the 2010s and 2020s, with countries such as Azerbaijan, China, Iran, Israel, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine utilizing drones with increased ubiquity. Militant groups, such as the Islamic State and the Houthis, and organized crime groups such as Mexican cartels likewise have used drones for attacks against adversaries and for logistical purposes.
The Russo-Ukrainian war is "widely recognised as the world's first drone war" due to the large scale and high intensity of drone attacks, and the role of this experience in evolving the tactics of modern conventional warfare. Both armies have used a multitude of UAVs, including long-range fixed-wing drones and short range multirotor FPV drones. Ukraine became the first country to create a military branch exclusively dedicated to drone warfare—the Unmanned Systems Forces—in June 2024, with Russia following soon with its own Unmanned Systems Forces in November 2025. The Russo-Ukrainian war demonstrated how drones have disrupted traditional military doctrines in a manner similar to how gunpowder revolutionized warfare, making them a "decisive" factor in all future conflicts.