Mains Practice Questions

Approach:

• Define briefly about suicide drones.
• Give examples of suicide drone in present time.
• Discuss how it is changing warfare.
• Conclude accordingly.

Introduction:

• Suicide drones are single-use weapons that fly into their targets and detonate on impact, they are capable of circling above a target and waiting for the perfect moment to strike with incredible precision.

Body:

Israel, U.S.A, South Korea and China are some of the leading producers of this type of drones. Recently, these suicide drones were used by various countries like Azerbaijan had used small Turkish-made drones against the Armenian military, Ukraine and Russia used them against each other.

• Significance of suicide drones in changing traditional warfare:
  • Cover Long Range:
    • Like cruise missiles, suicide drones can hit targets hundreds of kilometers away, but cruise missiles are expensive, and suicide drones are a cheaper, yet precise,
  • Portable: It is easy to handle and designed to be carried in a backpack, assisting small infantry units.
  • Better Camouflage: It has the capability of going past traditional defenses to strike its targets.
  • Advance electronics: It's difficult to detect on radar, and they can even be programmed to hit targets without human intervention, based on facial recognition.

Conclusion

Given the rapid development of capabilities, steadily dropping cost, and wide proliferation, it is all but certain that drones will be used in all future conflicts and will be leveraged even by least developed countries or non-state actors as a tool to achieve their objectives.