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About drone warfare
Drones and counter terrorism
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Do you know what a drone is? A drone, also known as a UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle. There are many different and beneficial ways that drones can be used such as delivering packages, saving lives, and performing military attacks, however, using drones for attacks is controversial. Drones should be used in strikes because they can attack terrorists, they are cheaper, and there are less human deaths opposed to other weapons used. Drones play an important role when it comes to eliminating terrorists. From 2015-2017 there have been 1,546 strikes in Afghanistan, 425 in Pakistan, and 249 in Yemen (Drone Strikes). “U.S drones have killed an estimated 3,300 al Qaeda, Taliban, and other jihadist operatives… which includes over 50 senior leaders” (Why Drones Work). Drones can target and kill leaders which will weaken the terrorist groups because inexperienced leaders will take their place and perform inadequately. Michael Hayden, former CIA chief, states, “ The targeted killing program has been the most precise and effective application of firepower in the history of armed conflict” (Horgan). To add on, “in the 48 drones strikes conducted in Pakistan last year, fewer than two percent of those killed were civilians” (Ratnesar). It is important to have precision when using weapons because civilians will be less likely to be …show more content…
The military will be saving money with the use of drones. “By using less ships, planes and troops, but continuing to fund elite special forces like drones, the Obama administration plans to achieve 487 billion dollars in cuts over the next decade” (Martinez). This is because “drones cost about 2,500-3,500 dollars per flight hour while planes can cost ten times as much at 30,000 dollar an hour” (Understanding Drones). Overall, drones will be cheaper to purchase and maintain than other aircraft because they have a cost advantage over
Byman’s first argument is that US drone strikes are extremely efficient in their purpose: eliminating high value targets in foreign countries that pose a threat to national security. He cities a study done by the New America Foundation, which found that “U.S. drones have killed an estimated 3,300 al Qaeda, Taliban, and other jihadist operatives in Pakistan and Yemen” (Byman 1). Of these 3,300 militants, over 50 were senior leaders of either Al Qaeda or the Taliban. Additionally, drone strikes indirectly hinder communication between terrorist leaders and their operatives. In an effort to avoid detection, many foreign militants have stopped using cell phones and other electronic forms of communication. Although the elimination of technology makes it harder to find high value targets, it also significantly impacts their ability to communicate, which reduces the amount of organized attacks. Without considering the cost of civilian casualties or other negative impacts associated with the drone strikes, it is clear that UAV drones have been effective in eliminating foreign threats.
Drones and UAVs are remote control vehicles that need no pilot, instead they use a signal coming from a machine that someone is controlling. Although that is not always been the case for drones, the technology in its primitive stage was available during the late 1800’s. It was seen during the civil war in the form of hot air balloons and both north and south possessed a way to create the machines. They contained a timed mechanism that would release an explosive when the time was over, this seemed very clever, but at the time it was not very effective. Years passed and the Wright brothers and created the airplane in the early 1900’s, and they did needed pilots. The concept of airplanes was moved to the next level when in the 1930’s Britain Royal Navy created one of the first UAVs. This particular UAV was know as “The Queen Bee’’. This particular model was driven by what is said to be a radio signal. Much later Drones became much more complex and that is because years of technological advances were added to old models that were being produced in late 1900’s. Today, ...
Ever since, the U.S. military has advanced significantly in remote targeted killings, and the drone has become notably popular. These aircrafts are used primarily to spy and eventually kill an individual without having to put army boots down on surrounding ground. Drones are especially important for military missions that are deemed too dangerous for military soldiers to physically be there (Tice). The use of a drone can “get the job done” without having to be concerned with the common death and trauma of American soldiers, that ground combaters encounter daily. Drones are unmanned machines that fly with the help of lithium-polymer batteries, and give information to the drone pilot through attached sensors (Tice). These sensors have the ability to measure the distance and speed of the target, which allows the drone pilot to make an accurate hit on the victim (Tice). Missiles, that are secured onto the drone, are prompted to launch when the drone pilot deems the time is appropriate. Although this newly invented technology greatly assists the United States military in fighting war and potentially preventing danger, I believe that unmanned drones are causing more harm for our future warfare. The use of remotely-controlled aircrafts, in warfare, profoundly desensitizes the drone pilots, to the terrors of war because it makes killing too easy and ultimately
It can be asserted that with current technology and supervision drones lack the stability required to be successful and safe and in actuality are counter-effective because these drones create an unsupervised means of power that could quickly spiral out of control. The drone program fails to decrease the death count of war, increase the intelligence needed to dismantle terrorist cells and be secure against hackers. As a result, drones are counterproductive, and in truth create a newfound terrorism. At the end of the day, the only means to eradicate the enemy is to make them a friend.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), also known as Drones have been used since the civil war, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. The idea of unmanned aerial vehicles had been growing more and more with every conflict our nation has come across. The use of drones is now in full effect, ranging from military operations to relief efforts. Controversies around the increased use of drones include target killings by the military and surveillance by drones within the U.S. Target killing has shown to be effective and favorable against terrorism but some have seen it as a violation of human rights
The drone debate section of ProCon.org provides information that states that the U.S. military allocated $5 billion to drones in the 2012 budget, this makes up a meer 1% of the total budget. In comparison, the F-35 strike program, only one of the manned strike vehicle programs, cost the U.S. over $9 billion (“Should the United States”). These statistics could be due simply to the military choosing to invest more time and money into the manned strike programs, or more likely due to the cost of each drone and operation of that drone being significantly less than that of a manned aircraft. The cost to operate one manned aircraft on a mission for an hour can exceed $160,000 while the per-hour cost of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will most likely not exceed $5,000. These estimates would lead to drones subsequently being .03% of the cost of traditional options and these conventional options being roughly 33 times more expensive than the UAVs (“Should the United States”). Drones also provide an option for the military to eliminate threats without being as invasive of the foreign country as other options
You might think that's a lot of money, but it costs $2.1 million per year for each soldier deployed in Afghanistan. U. S. soldiers will be much safer with the use of drones. ProCon.org says U.S. soldiers are kept safe from, “.fire fights, anti-aircraft shelling, land mines, I.E.D’s, suicide bombers, snipers, harsh weather and enviroments. ” if we use drones. That would mean that there are fewer U.S. soldiers guarding U.S./Allied territory.
In contrast to this, drones strikes violate the authority of the counties they attack, most attacks are carried out without the authorization of the country .Pakistani Prime Sharif said that the "use of drones is not only a continued violation of our territorial integrity but also detrimental to our resolve at efforts in eliminating terrorism from our country... I would therefore stress the need for an end to drone attacks."( Anderson ). How are terrorist groups sopost to respect us when the example set is that invading other countries is complete okay. Not to mention that the fury by them and the rest of the country could lead someday to a devastating war or a massive attack. Adding to this United Nations ' Human Rights Chief has called US drone strikes a “violation of sovereignty” and have forced for investigations into the legality of the attacks. More of a reason for them to be remove from our
Drones are remotely controlled aerial vehicles that have been used since the Afghanistan war. The UK have began using UAVs in October 2007 during the Afghanistan war. Even though drones have many different size and shapes they fall into two categories. They are either used for surveillance or armed missions (What are Drones?). Drone strikes begun during the George W. Bush administration, and have increased substantially under President Barack Obama’s administration. Drones are wildly debated due to the fact that...
Drones are also called unmanned aerial vehicles. They come in various sizes for many purposes of uses. Drones are known by different names such as “Killer Drone” or “Spy” or “Surveillance Drone” as they are mostly use to decimate enemy and harm civilians, which is why drones received negative feedback from the public. Not all people use drones in warfare, they also use them as a hobby to film and entertain. Despite drones have negative sides, they also have positive sides as well.
Over the course of the 21st century, the United States’ use of unmanned aerial vehicles (also commonly referred to as drones) has increased substantially. In the aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the United States’ government began using military strategies incorporating drones to eliminate terrorists and other threatening extremist groups. Multiple positive and negative factors arise with the discussion of this topic, and has proven to be controversial to the American population. Overall, drones have demonstrated to be extremely useful with combatting terrorists and should continue being implemented in the military. Drones are powerful weapons that provide stealthy and lethal attacks on enemies of the United States.
Drones are the Future One of the latest and most controversial topics that has risen over the past five to ten years is whether or not drones should be used as a means of war, surveillance, and delivery systems. Common misconceptions usually lead to people’s opposition to the use of drones which is the reason it is important for people to know the facts about how and why they are used. Wartime capabilities will provide for fewer casualties and more effective strikes. New delivery and surveillance systems in Africa, the United Air Emirates and the United States will cut costs and increase efficiency across the board. Rules and regulations on drones may be difficult to enforce, but will not be impossible to achieve.
Another name for drones are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVS). These are “aircraft either controlled by ‘pilots’ from the ground or increasingly, autonomously following a pre-programmed mission” (Cole 4). Even though there are many unique types of drones, but they usually fall under two main categories: ones that are armed and equipped with missiles and bombs and others that are used for surveillance. In the past couple of years the use of drones has increased dramatically. The reason being because “unlike manned aircraft they can stay aloft for many hours and are flown remotely so there is no danger to the flight crew” (Cole 13). There are drones that can actually fly over more than fifty hours. In countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq, the Predator and U.S Reaper are physically there. Cause of the power of technology th...
Drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVS) are controlled via two ways which are by pilots from ground or by a self directed pre-programmed mission. Cole and Wright (2010) identify that having various types, drones basically meant to serves the following two purposes:
Drones will help reduce cost of funding the military. Drones will replace different types of supplies and weapons. There will no longer be a need many military tanks. With the money that the government saved on the army, the government could use that money more useful things that can benefit the future of the country in a good way.