Drone

[[File:OCPA-2005-08-11-080331.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Is it a bird? No! It's a US army drone that will probably "accidentally" kill your friends and family!]]{{war}}
A '''drone''', also known as an '''unmanned aerial vehicle''' or '''UAV''', is a remotely controlled flying device that can have any number of uses, from targeting enemy combatants and aerial reconnaissance, to [[journalist]]ic photography and personal entertainment as a remotely controlled toy.

== Military deployment ==
The history of unmanned military aviation stretches back all the way to 1849, when the Austrians sent bomb-laden balloons toward Venice.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/8586782/Drones-first-used-in-1848.html Drones First Used In 1848. ''The Telegraph''.]</ref> The effort backfired somewhat due to the unreliability of balloons but did score some hits. The use of UAVs as reconnaissance aircraft for the US military only dates to 1964.<ref>http://www.jhuapl.edu/techdigest/TD/td3203/32_03-Keane.pdf</ref> The semi-common use of drones for targeting the enemy began, as far as we know, under the second [[W|Bush]] administration. This usage continued under the [[Obama]] administration. Marc Thiessen, President Bush's chief speech-writer, pointed out a disadvantage of using drones for assassination: "When you send a drone to kill a terrorist, you not only vaporize the terrorist, you vaporize all the intelligence in his brain and so you might as well be setting file cabinets in the [[CIA]] on fire."<ref> [http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/05/world/cia-rendition-report/index.html "Report: Numerous countries involved in CIA interrogation programs"], Jamie Crawford, ''CNN'', February 7, 2013 </ref>

The most famous kind of drone used for targeting is the {{wpl|General Atomics MQ-1 Predator|RQ-1/MQ-1 Predator|,}} which can attack targets on the ground by shooting Hellfire missiles at them. The {{wpl|General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper|MQ-9 Reaper|,}} formerly known as the Predator B, is another armed UAV in US military service and is a ''much'' more capable aircraft than the Predator. It also has the distinction of being the aircraft of the first fighter squadron to convert to making exclusive use of unmanned combat aerial vehicles.

Recently the American public, and — to some extent — even the media, has finally become concerned about the [[morality]] of drone use in military operations. This may have something to do with the greater visibility of the [[CIA]]'s and with [[United States Armed Forces|military]] use of drones to commit [[human rights|human-rights]] abuses, like those that occur with the "double-tap" protocol, when a drone strikes an area where [[terrorist]]s are believed to be located, and then re-strikes that same area, after civilians have rushed to the scene to help other civilians, thereby killing and injuring more civilians. 

Criticisms have also been raised that drone strikes are extremely inaccurate. One five month period alone saw an inaccuracy rate of ninety-fucking-percent.<ref>[https://theintercept.com/drone-papers/the-assassination-complex/ "The Assassination Complex"] - ''The Intercept'': "During one five-month period of the operation, according to the documents, nearly 90 percent of the people killed in airstrikes were not the intended targets."</ref>

Americans have raised another concern: the use of drones to commit [[extrajudicial execution]]s. In 2013, [[Amnesty International]] released a report raising the possibility that American drone strikes in Pakistan constituted a war crime.<ref>
[http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/22/amnesty-us-officials-war-crimes-drones "US drone strikes could be classed as war crimes, says Amnesty International], ''The Guardian,'' 22 October 2013</ref> But then again, eliminating the enemy in combat is perfectly acceptable; that's what war is all about.

The US military also makes use of a variety of unarmed UAVs for reconnaissance, such as {{wpl|Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk|Global Hawk|,}} {{wpl|AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven|Raven|,}} and {{wpl|AAI RQ-7 Shadow|Shadow|.}} These have far less news-making potential than their armed counterparts, which is a good thing, given the negative effect the media can have on an ongoing military campaign.

U.S. drones, developed jointly with [[Israel]], have been exported to a number of close allies, such as the [[United Kingdom]], [[France]], and [[Italy]].

As noted below, drones have also been extensively used by both sides during the 2022 [[Russia]]n invasion of [[Ukraine]]<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/are-ukraines-cheap-slow-drones-successful-russian-targets-rcna19982 "Why are Ukraine's cheap, slow drones so successful against Russian targets?"]</ref>

Non-state actors have also started increasingly using drones. A Russian airbase in Syria was attacked by DIY drones made out of plywood and plastic.<ref>https://defencereport.com/not-mysterious-drones-attacked-russian-military-bases-syria/</ref> The [[organized crime|cartels]] have also started using drones.<ref>https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/mexican-cartel-tactical-note-35</ref> The [[Yemeni Civil War|Houthis]] have also started using remote explosive drone boats against the [[Saudi]] Navy.<ref>http://www.conflictarm.com/download-file/?report_id=2550&file_id=2564</ref>

==Other uses==
[[File:ProtestDrone.JPG|thumb|right|170px|Drone used to watch police during a protest in Montreal, 2012]]
*Starting in 2012, American courts have declared the ownership of non-lethal surveillance drones by police departments to be legal.
*Drones are in use to patrol the United States border with [[Mexico]].
*Amazon.com has toyed with the notion of using rotor-lifted drones to deliver packages to its customers.
*Drones are planned for use as restaurant waiters in [[Singapore]] starting in 2015 to help alleviate a labour shortage.<ref>[http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/now-flying-robots-to-serve-as-waiters-in-singapore-114112700884_1.html Now, flying robots to serve as waiters in Singapore]</ref>
*Drones have been heavily marketed to consumers. Sometimes being on sale for less than sixty dollars to several thousand depending on their control automation, battery power, and quality of the video.
*On the Fourth of July, 2018, drones were used in some U.S. cities instead of fireworks for reasons of public safety and fires.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-44731549/fourth-of-july-celebrations-fireworks-v-drones Fourth of July celebrations: Fireworks v drones]. BBC News. July 5th, 2018.</ref>
*If things go as planned, [[NASA]] will send a nuclear-powered drone, the "{{wpl|Dragonfly (spacecraft)|Dragonfly|",}} to [[Saturn]]'s largest moon [[Titan (moon)|Titan]] some years from now.
*In remote parts of Rwanda and Ghana, medical delivery drones (such as those from Zipline) are used to deliver medicine. This helps bypass the problem of rough terrain while enabling rapid and life-saving delivery.
*Drones have extensively been used by both [[Russia]]n and [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] forces during the 
special military operation
 [[Ukraine#2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine|invasion of the latter by the former]] that started in 2022.
*Drones can be used to smuggle contraband such as drugs and phones into prisons; however, they can easily be deterred by barking dogs.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/shortcuts/2016/dec/07/liz-truss-another-gaffe-barking-dogs-scare-drug-drones Do barking dogs scare drug drones, or is it just another Liz Truss gaffe?]</ref>

===The public strikes back===
[[Occupy Wall Street]] protesters used a drone called the "Occucopter" to monitor [[police]] activity so that they could catch police misconduct on camera and coordinate getting around the police crackdowns.

In December 2018, one of Britain's busiest airports, Gatwick south of London, was shut down for several hours by a drone. There was speculation that it could be climate change protestors, although it might have been an attempt to blackmail the airport operators (except no blackmail notice seems to have been received) or simply larking around.<ref>{{wpa|Gatwick Airport drone incident}}</ref>

==Drone paranoia==
There have also been incidents where people have complained about drones or even swarms of drones monitoring them, where investigators struggled to find any evidence of actual drones. This includes several apparent sightings of drone swarms in Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas in December 2019 and January 2020: explanations included secret military drones or anti-drone tests (there are nuclear missile bases in the area and it has been suggested they may have been testing anti-drone defences), drug smugglers using drones, or mass hysteria, but no hard evidence was found and reported sightings dwindled after January 2020. This may place drones in a similar category to [[UFO]]s or [[black helicopters]] as something that people see even when they're not there.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/18/attack-of-the-drones-the-mystery-of-disappearing-swarms-in-the-us-midwest Attack of the drones: the mystery of disappearing swarms in the US midwest], The Guardian, April 18, 2021</ref><ref>{{wpa|2019–20 Colorado drone sightings}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Anwar al-Awlaki]]
*[[Killer robot]]

==External links==
*[http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2014/06/23/stop-saying-uh-oh-while-youre-flying-drone-crash-pilot-quotes-unveiled/ ‘Stop saying ‘uh-oh’ while you’re flying’: Drone crash pilot quotes unveiled], ''Washington Post''
*[http://drones.pitchinteractive.com/ Out of Sight, Out of Mind.]

==References==
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[[Category:War]]
[[Category:Military]]
[[Category:Technology]]

Categories: War, Military, Technology