In the last three years, drones have become one of the most influential factors in the modern battlefield. They’re frequently used in the Ukraine-Russia War and have caused a significant amount of damage. In a similar style to the trench warfare of WWI, the drones have frozen the front lines of the conflict in Ukraine.
The basic assumption is that anyone who sticks their head out from a protected place is likely to be hit by a lethal drone.
However, now drones can go inside the trenches, buildings, or anywhere the controller wishes.
Drones are an effective, cheap, mass-produced, and terror-inducing weapon.
From the front in Ukraine to Israel’s wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran, drones are redefining strategic military thinking and how wars are conducted.
What began as a small and seemingly harmless tool has become a strategic weapon capable of eliminating entire armored columns and destroying strategic attack aircraft.
In the daring “Spider’s Web” operation, Ukrainian armed forces infiltrated deep into Russia with trucks equipped with double-walled roofs, from which approximately 117 drones were launched in total, destroying Russian attack aircraft that cannot be reproduced.
The impact was significant. The weapon - extremely low-cost drones, at n almost negligible cost considering the enormous war expenses.
The drone threat and its constant presence also change the psychology of the battlefield. Soldiers must constantly be thinking about where to look and what to listen for. It also affects battlefield visibility. Nets are installed over roads for tens of kilometers, and metal nets are installed over armored vehicles, jeeps, and even tanks, to prevent the drones from reaching into the vehicles.
What are drones?
Drones began as multi-rotor tools, capable of short-range flight, sensitive to electronic warfare (EW) jamming, and used for observation only. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has become the most advanced testing ground for drone warfare in modern history.
Daily innovations, inventions, and local initiatives have transformed drones into something entirely different – heavy-duty, fiber optic cables immune to jamming up to a range of 50 km, with a highly precise strike capability. Some drones can maneuver inside buildings, and others can be flown using special flight goggles at speeds of 150 km/h.
The vast majority of drones are based on available tools, and primarily, very cheap relative to military alternatives. A sophisticated drone costs a few thousand dollars, negligible compared to military ammunition. Fiber optic cables, for example, can be bought on AliExpress for less than $200, and instructional videos are abundant on YouTube, so even manufacturing the weapon doesn't pose a problem.
Beyond that, these weapons are being produced on an enormous scale.
Ukraine announced a production capacity of over 5.5 million drones per year. Russia talks about millions per year, and in China, even more. The Western world must match the tremendous production pace of these drones that are changing the battlefield.
Recently, the United States decided to address this issue and become a leader in the field. President Trump announced this through an executive order on June 6, 2025. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also published a memo on July 10, 2025, which "unleashes" the restrictions on drone production.
It removed bureaucratic barriers, defining drones as "consumables" like hand grenades or rifle bullets, with the goal of bringing the best and cheapest possible drones to every American soldier in combat.
Additionally, the Pentagon is requesting $13.4 billion for autonomous military systems in the 2026 budget, with $9.4 billion allocated for unmanned aircraft systems.
In the future, drones will begin to move in flocks and swarms.
A flock will operate under central command in a hierarchical and pre-planned structure. In contrast, a swarm will be based much more on artificial intelligence, working autonomously and coordinatively with the ability to respond dynamically to environmental changes with minimal human involvement.
Some argue that lethal AI-based drone swarms are essentially the next weapon of mass destruction. Consider 1,000 autonomous lethal drones flying in a swarm, deployed from an aircraft in the heart of a major city. Each one has a human target that it must identify using an artificial intelligence-based facial recognition mechanism.
What are the effects in Israel?
Israel is also active in this field.
Israel operates a variety of drones across all current combat theaters - from the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, and also in Iran. Israel has demonstrated high technological capabilities, most of which cannot be disclosed. These range from tactical operations, like the assasination of Hamas leader Yahaya Sinwar to opearations in Iran.
In the field of drone defense, Israel is among the world leaders, although there is still much to be done. Massive deployment along the borders, detection and neutralization systems, personnel deployment in dedicated command centers, cooperation with drone operators, with ground and air forces, with civilian drone operators, and preparation for defending strategic and security sites.
However, most of the work in the defense field is still ahead of us, and if we do not act urgently, we may find ourselves surprised.
There are also risks in civilian areas, such as the infiltration of hostile drones into city centers for attack missions and also for intelligence gathering. Drones will soon be able to fly very long ranges undetected.
What is the future of drone warfare?
Drones are on the battlefield here, and they are here to stay.
Millions of drones are being manufactured today around the world, and are fundamentally changing every form of warfare we have become accustomed to. The new technologies have essential advantages and unique characteristics that did not exist in the past.
In the recent conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, one of the first weapons that was deployed was attack drones.
They are available, easy to operate, and cheap. No military procurement process is required to purchase and operate them in the civilian market.
Drones are not just a new weapon – they represent a paradigm shift in the way conflicts are conducted. They offer precision capabilities at costs that make them accessible to a wide range of actors, thus undermining traditional military monopolies.
The change necessitates urgent investment in research and development, building local production capabilities, and developing new defense strategies that can effectively address evolving threats. The current conflict proves that technological advantages can appear and disappear within months, not years.
Countries must maintain continuous innovation cycles while building scalable production capabilities. Defense strategies must evolve to deal with swarm attacks, autonomous systems, and the integration of drones with other weapon systems.
The future has changed, and technology is already shaping the landscape of conflicts for decades to come.
The author is a Col. (Reserves) in the IAF, strategic advisor to the Israeli Defense Ministry and startup companies. He is pursuing a doctorate in law at Reichman University on the legality of lethal autonomous drones and the significance of human involvement in the operational loop.