A U.S. Predator unmanned drone armed with a missile stands on the tarmac of Kandahar military airport in Afghanistan in this June 2010 file photo. ReutersUAVs’ Next Challenge: Bad Guys Shooting Back -- DoD Buzz
Need another example of how different the unmanned systems field is from the rest of the defense game? Much of today’s big military hardware is effectively at the end of history — nobody talks about building an advanced new cruiser for the Navy, or a powerful new Army tank, etc. Almost everything in the medium term will “spiral” off existing hardware — if it gets built at all. But not unmanned aerial vehicles.
Although UAVs came of age in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, they did so in a climate of total air superiority, fighting against enemies often just equipped with simple small arms. But if UAVs are to continue to be relevant in “major conflicts,” they’ll need to be able to deal with three major threats, argued Caitlin Lee of IHS Janes.
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My Comment: With few (and rare) exceptions .... Americans UAVs have been untouched from enemy fire and/or counter-measures. I think this is going to change in the next few years, especially as countries like China/Russia/etc. develop the tools necessary to combat and/or shoot down these drones.