Emerging Unmanned Threats

Armed non-state actors and terrorist groups are increasingly using 'commercial off-the-shelf' (COTS) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs; sometimes known as 'drones') to support combat operations, a new report by ARES and PAX has found. Over the last four years, researchers have documented a wide range of commercially-available drones being employed in various conflicts in the Middle East, North Africa, and Ukraine. The popularity of these small UAVs has increased dramatically as they have...
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Armed non-state actors and terrorist groups are increasingly using 'commercial off-the-shelf' (COTS) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs; sometimes known as 'drones') to support combat operations, a new report by ARES and PAX has found. Over the last four years, researchers have documented a wide range of commercially-available drones being employed in various conflicts in the Middle East, North Africa, and Ukraine. The popularity of these small UAVs has increased dramatically as they have become widely available for commercial and consumer use, with global sales of civilian unmanned aerial systems expected to approach $5 billion USD in 2021.These otherwise innocuous systems can provide armed groups with unique capabilities for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and target acquisition, and are sometimes modified for direct offensive when converted to flying improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The booming civilian market for drones has made it easy for groups such as the Islamic State, Al Qaeda, and Hezbollah to support combat operations with UAV technology. The report Emerging Unmanned Threats is a thorough analysis of current trends and developments in COTS UAVs, as well as specifically examining the use of these technologies by non-state armed groups in various conflict zones, and discussing some of the measures developed to counter this threat.