The technological shock of World War I was the machine gun, which could cut down rows and rows of infantrymen from a distance in the battlefield. Combined with barbed wire and mines, it made movement across open land difficult and dangerous. The 21st-century equivalent of the machine gun seems to be drones, small and large, which have caused more casualties in the Ukraine war than any other weapon. Their widespread use spans reconnaissance, strikes, and logistics.

Drones have not only altered the tactical battlefield but have had a strategic impact as well. This was demonstrated by Operation Spider’s Web, through which Ukraine launched an attack across the geographic spread of Russia, destroying some dozen aircraft including strategic bombers. The real impact of the operation has been psychological. The calls in Russia for nuclear retaliation are a measure of the shock.

Spider’s Web can be compared to an earlier operation when Ukraine sank the Russian guided missile cruiser Moskva in the Black Sea in 2022. The ship was sunk by anti-ship missiles. But a Bayraktar TB2 drone played a key role as a spotter to aid the Ukrainian effort. Subsequently, the Ukrainians have used aerial and maritime drones to push Russian naval power out of much of the Black Sea.

Just as the........

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