Drone warfare
Drone warfare is a form of warfare that involves the deployment of military robots and unmanned systems. The robots may be remote controlled by a pilot or have varying levels of autonomy during their mission. Types of robots include unmanned combat aerial vehicles or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned surface vehicles or unmanned underwater vehicles, and unmanned ground vehicles.
The applications of UAVs, UGVs, USVs, and UUVs are diverse, ranging from reconnaissance, kamikaze missions, bomb disposal, cargo transport, and medical evacuation to anti-air, anti-armor, and anti-personnel role.
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 find application in a variety of military operations, including electronic warfare, explosive ordnance disposal, training and logistics support. However, they are most frequently employed in intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance missions, enabling direct attacks on targets as part of a kill chain or through manned-unmanned teaming. Aerial drone attacks can be executed through the use of purpose-built UCAVs, that deploy ordnance during a drone strike, or by weaponized commercial UAVs that drop munitions or engage aerial assault. Heavy-lift drones may also be used to airlift supplies or evacuation of wounded personnel across a battlefield. Smaller drones, such as SUAVs and MAVs, are man-portable and can be deployed for low-altitude, short-range support operations. Larger drones can serve a "mothership" role by deploying smaller, sub-drones or by being equipped with electronic warfare features such as a signal repeater. Multiple drones can operate and attack simultaneously in a drone swarm and autonomous drones, such as LAWs, utilize military AI.
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, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine utilizing drones with increased ubiquity. Militant groups, such as the Islamic State and Houthis, and organized crime groups such as Mexican cartels likewise used drones for attacks against adversaries and for logistical purposes.
Nevertheless, only the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine is "widely recognised as the world’s first drone war". Since the beginning both sides have used a multitude of unmanned aerial vehicles, including long range fixed-wing drones, and short range multirotor FPV drones.
The main reason, that scholars have described the Russo-Ukrainian war as the first "drone war", is due to the large scale and high intensity of attacks, and the role of this experience in changing the tactics of modern conventional warfare. 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.
Commercial UCAVs
A commercial UCAV is any commercially-produced UAV that is modified to carry such weapons as guided bombs, cluster bombs, incendiary devices, air-to-surface missiles, air-to-air missiles, anti-tank guided missiles or other types of precision-guided munitions, autocannons and machine guns. These weaponized civilian drones may proceed to fire munition or a missile, drop explosives and crash into or detonate above vulnerable targets. Payloads could include explosives such as hand grenades, mortar shells and IEDs or other dangerous materials such as shrapnel, chemical, radiological or biological hazards. These relatively cheap drones are also used for non-attack roles. Multirotor FPV drones have been used extensively by both armies for aerial reconnaissance and artillery spotting in the Russo-Ukraine War.Anti-UAV systems are being developed by states to counter the threat posed by commercial UCAVs. According to James Rogers, an academic who studies drone warfare, "There is a big debate out there at the moment about what the best way is to counter these small UAVs, whether they are used by hobbyists causing a bit of a nuisance or in a more sinister manner by a terrorist actor."
Americas
United States
Estimates for the total number of people killed in U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan range from 2,000 to 3,500 militants killed and 158 to 965 civilians killed. 81 insurgent leaders in Pakistan have been killed. Drone strikes in Yemen are estimated to have killed 846–1,758 militants and 116–225 civilians. 57 Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leaders are confirmed to have been killed.In August 2018, Al Jazeera reported that a Saudi Arabian-led coalition combating Houthi rebels in Yemen had secured secret deals with al-Qaeda in Yemen and recruited hundreds of that group's fighters:"... Key figures in the deal-making said the United States was aware of the arrangements and held off on drone attacks against the armed group, which was created by Osama bin Laden in 1988."
After US president Donald Trump had increased drone strikes by over 400%, his successor Joe Biden reversed course. Under Biden, drone strikes reportedly decreased. A Biden administration drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan in August 2021 killed 10 civilians, including seven children. Later, a drone strike killed Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
By mid-2025, reports emerged that the U.S. military was lagging behind in evolving its drone warfare capabilities, particularly its production and deployment of small, low-cost first-person view UAVs akin to those seen during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A July 2025 memo by defense secretary Pete Hegseth urged military leadership to accelerate the adoption of drones among troops. In September 2025 the U.S. envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, stated Ukraine had overtaken the U.S. in drone technology amid the Russo-Ukrainian war, as battlefield experience prompted continuous innovation in drones. Defense industry executive Steve Siomi, the president of robotics defense company Allen Control Systems, said China had overtaken the U.S. in responding to drone proliferation and argued that drone adoption made warfare more affordable for all combatants, including America's rivals.
Effects
Scholarly opinions are mixed regarding the efficacy of drone strikes. Some studies support that decapitation strikes to kill a terrorist or insurgent group's leadership limits the capabilities of these groups in the future, while other studies contradict this. Drone strikes are successful at suppressing militant behavior, though this response is in anticipation of a drone strike rather than as a result of one. Data from the US and Pakistan's joint counter-terrorism efforts show that militants cease communication and attack planning to avoid detection and targeting.Proponents of drone strikes assert that drone strikes are largely effective in targeting specific combatants. Some scholars argue that drone strikes reduce the amount of civilian casualties and territorial damage when compared to other types of military force like large bombs. Military alternatives to drone strikes, such as raids and interrogations, can be extremely risky, time-consuming, and potentially ineffective. Relying on drone strikes does not come without risks as U.S. drone usage sets an international precedent on extraterritorial and extrajudicial killings.
Latin America
In Mexico, drug cartel drone operators are called "droneros" who are known to use bomb-dropping drones on enemy targets. The U.S has used drones to help conduct drug busts. The drones are implemented through secret missions to bust cartel leaders.Asia
Azerbaijan
were used extensively by the Azerbaijani Army against the Armenian Army during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. These UCAVs included Israeli IAI Harops and Turkish Bayraktar TB2s. As the Bayraktar TB2 utilizes Canadian optics and laser targeting systems, Canada suspended export of its military drone technology to Turkey in October 2020 after allegations that the technology had been used to collect intelligence and direct artillery and missile fire at military positions. After the incident, Aselsan stated that it would begin the serial production and integration of the CATS system to replace the Canadian MX15B.The Economist has cited Azerbaijan's highly effective use of drones against Armenia in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war and Turkey's use of drones in the Syrian Civil War as indicating the future of warfare. Noting that it had previously been assumed that drones would not play a major role in conflicts between nations due to their vulnerability to anti-aircraft fire, it suggested that while this might be true for major powers with air defenses, it was less true for minor powers. It noted Azerbaijani tactics and Turkey's use of drones as indicating a "new, more affordable type of air power". It also noted that the ability of drones to record their kills enabled a highly effective Azerbaijani propaganda campaign.