Attack drones versus CUAS – the future of warfare or just another trend?
The proliferation and effectiveness of drones in Ukraine and other conflicts cannot be denied, but need to be viewed in a wider context. (Photo: Armed Forces of Ukraine)
Demand signals for counter-drone technology are strong and the market is becoming crowded, but is this really the beginning of a new phase of warfare or will commentators be talking about something else 10 years from now?
A claim still frequently made is that military commanders “always plan to fight the last war”. This is often untrue, and also usually refers to the “last relevant and successful” war. Conflicts are always different from their precursors and waged using a vast variety of approaches and systems. But sometimes pinning one’s hope on a new technology and forgetting the lessons of the past can prove an equally dangerous pitfall.
The current fixation on air defence and the view that “drones are the future” sits somewhere in the middle of this spectrum. And it has a recent equivalent. In the
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