Drones have recently imposed themselves as an effective multi-tasking weapon in war battles, and countries and armed groups have sought to own them, because of their importance in inflicting painful blows on the enemy at a low cost.
In the following report, we present a summary of a paper prepared by Ali al-Dhahab, a researcher specializing in military and strategic affairs, entitled "UAVs: Technology and the Military and Strategic Impact" and published on the Al Jazeera Center for Studies website.
Historical view:
The name of the drone, the drone, or using the English word “drones” is given to the aircraft that are controlled from a distance, and sometimes it is autonomous.
The first unmanned aircraft appeared in England in 1917, and then developed in 1924.
Since World War I, the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom have been the first countries to use it in their armies, then the Soviet Union joined them in the 1930s.
The Second World War 1939-1945 and the Korean War 1950-1953 allowed it to be used by the United States for training purposes.
– It was also used as guided missiles in that war, and in confronting manned warplanes.
One of them was used for each of those purposes once, so about 15,000 aircraft were produced through a factory located in southern California.
Its role in the intelligence field emerged after the Vietnam War 1955-1975.
It was first supplied with missiles in the 1999 attack on Kosovo.
Its
classification is classified according to its shape into three forms:
- Fixed wings.
In the form of a helicopter.
On deceptive forms.
Future Prospects
- Global spending on it is expected to approach $100 billion by the end of this year 2019, as a result of its continuous development and increasing demand.
Many countries are looking to develop them to replace warplanes and bombers, including nuclear bombers.
Both the United States and Israel dominate its industry, and the latter is the main exporter of it globally.
Israel is the first in the world to export and manufacture drones (Reuters)
Operating systems
The take-off and landing of some close-range UAVs are controlled by various controls, and by radio waves.
The ones that fly hundreds of kilometers away are controlled by satellites that ensure the sustainability of wireless communication with them.
It usually has its own trajectory points assigned to it by its automated system and based on predetermined coordinates.
The Global Positioning System (GPS) made it easy to determine the place of departure and to return to it automatically if required.
The sensors that are provided to the aircraft, such as normal optical cameras, infrared and radar, work to detect the challenges it faces so that the automated flight system sends all information to the ground pilot, so the “collision avoidance system” works to avoid collisions through the pilot system Automated, not ground pilot.
Problems and Challenges
Despite the level of development in the field of drones, it still faces technical and technical problems that have caused many accidents. Reports issued by the Pentagon in 2010 revealed the crash of 38 of them during operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The causes of these and similar accidents are attributed to the following:
– Aircraft were shot down, human and operational errors were committed, and it was impossible to track them.
Design flaws and equipment errors.
Unreliability of information received from local customers in the targeting areas.
Bad weather such as clouds and rain.
Advantages
Addressing drones - especially small ones - still faces various challenges, including:
- They cannot be detected or seen with the naked eye.
Air defense radars are primarily designed for large aircraft.
– The high cost required by defense systems when resorting to them, for example, the Patriot missile systems cost one million dollars, while the value of the drone may be about 500 dollars.
The results of combating these aircraft on urban areas, especially if they are equipped with explosives.
The most important manufacturing countries
The number of countries using these aircraft, and the countries working on developing them, has reached more than forty countries, including:
China:
- It managed to make 25 types of drones, and it revealed them in a commercial presentation in 2010.
– In 2018, it announced the start of manufacturing the “CH-7” unmanned aircraft, with specifications that make it capable of flying to an altitude of 13,000 meters, and a speed of 571 miles per hour, and with a stockpile of missiles and long-range bombs, it can deal with land and sea targets.
Iran:
- During the first decade of this century, it announced the production of a drone for reconnaissance purposes.
In 2013, it announced the development of the largest combat reconnaissance aircraft, called “Futrus”, with a length of 7 meters and a flight range of up to 2000 km.
There are those who attribute the development of Iranian capabilities in this field to its acquisition of an American spy drone, an RQ170 Sentinel, which it shot down while penetrating its airspace in late 2012.
Turkey:
- Early this year, it announced the development of the "Aksungur" drone, formerly known as the Phoenix 2, during a launch, flight and self-landing test that lasted more than 4 hours.
Its national industry has provided the Turkish army with sixty combat reconnaissance drones, becoming one of six countries in the world that manufacture these aircraft.
It was counted among the exporting countries, after it was announced in February 2019 that Baykar Company had delivered six Bayraktar “TB2” drones to Qatar.
Arab countries:
- The drone industry in the Arab countries is still limited, with the exception of the UAE, which has started doing this since 2008 through the "Yabhon United 40" and a number of its analogues.
Algeria produced the “Amal 1-400” drone in 2013.
Saudi Arabia has manufactured the “Luna” drone, as a copy of the German plane of the same name (23).
In Egypt, the Arab Organization for Industrialization announced in 2016 the production of a drone that can perform various roles, such as reconnaissance, identifying targets, and correcting artillery fire.
Their military roles
- The effective and effective combat role of these planes emerged in the October 1973 war, when the Israeli army used them to shoot down 28 Syrian warplanes.
This role became clearer in the 1982 Lebanon War, when it was able to neutralize the Syrian (surface-to-air) missiles in the Lebanese Bekaa Valley.
It continues to play an important role in its operations within the Palestinian Authority since 2008.
Its role in the 1982 Lebanon War prompted the United States to purchase it and integrate it into its military program and participate in Desert Storm in 1991.
Various types of them played a role in the operations carried out by Washington abroad, especially in the so-called “war on terror.”
The Houthis took advantage of the advantages offered by these aircraft, and were able to bomb vital areas and facilities in Saudi Arabia.
Drones saved money and reduced casualties to zero (Reuters)
Strategic Missions
- Drone technology has provided solutions to many of the risks and human and material costs associated with military operations.
It provided combat advantages related to easy, abundant and quick access to information by means of its equipment.
– Its use has made fundamental differences, both strategic and tactical, in front of what the armies achieve on the ground, in terms of monitoring, tracking and other tasks, (there are many examples of what these aircraft have achieved in Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Libya and others).
In terms of influencing the size of the forces, the use of drones has made great progress, which prompted the withdrawal of the majority of US ground forces in 2011 from Iraq.
Strategic and Tactical Effects:
- Availability of live and direct evaluation of the results of combat operations, through the succession of information arrival to the center.
– Zero human losses and reduce material ones.
Narrowing the chances of survival for the target.
- Saving operating expenses, cadres, effort and time.
– Raising the morale of the beneficiary party, and on the contrary, on the other party.
Conclusion
Drones have shortened many variables in wars, such as the human and material cost, time and place, and the concept of force, in addition to providing various facilities for everyone who falls into the grip of this technology, and played a prominent and diverse role in many wars, and motivated countries to manufacture or obtain on her.