Drones, How An Established Weapon Can Re-Shape A War
In the mid-1700s, the British Empire faced a burgeoning rebellion in one of its colonies. The Americans dared to claim their independence from the Crown. A group of rag-tag backwoodsmen attacked General Howe’s army with unconventional tactics and weapons. The British were fighting in the “proper” way. Festooned in their bright red uniforms, they stood side by side in battle formation. Not the Americans. These ruffians hid behind the hedgerows and trees, not wearing a uniform.
The British used their trusty Brown Bess muskets to fight in close quarters. Although inaccurate, it didn’t need to be at such a tight range; the muskets could be reloaded quickly to send off the next round.
The Americans, on the other hand, used the legendary Kentucky Long Rifle. In the right hands, these weapons were incredibly accurate. Although the initial models were cumbersome and difficult to load, the Americans soon learned to take cover in the woodlands and underbrush to reload.
As the Revolutionary War unfolded, the British came to fear this established weapon and the dead-eye sharpshooters who shot them. Reports are that the British came to feel that the American Rebels “never missed.”
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The Revolutionary War was a David vs. Goliath struggle, as the underfunded 13 American Colonies took on the wealthiest, most powerful country of its day, the British Empire. The American’s introduction of an established battlefield technology, the long rifle, proved decisive. The British, you see, were using a smooth boor musket, while the Americans used a rifle. Rifling is the process of cutting a groove inside the barrel, giving each bullet a “spin,” providing that the bullet travels straight to its target.
European makers introduced these new rifles to the colonies in the 1720s and 30s, nearly half a century before the American-British Conflict. By the time of the Revolutionary War, the Colonists had mastered making their own Kentucky Long Rifles, and history was made.
Watching the Middle East today, you must wonder if history repeats.
The parallels between the American Colonies of two and a half centuries ago and today's Middle East are startling. The Israeli side has military superiority in the region. Most military analysts give Israel the nod with a more capable Air Force, Navy, and land-based Army. This strategic advantage also includes over the Iran Military. Indeed, most of Israel’s other opponents in the region, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the Islamic Resistance, do not have either an Air Force or a Navy. Combining the Israeli capability with the US Military makes this advantage overwhelming.
That, at least, is the conventional thinking. However, that was the analysis before considering the new “Kentucky Long Rifle”: the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), the Drone.
Using Drones in warfare is nothing new; the Europeans used hot-air balloons to drop bombs on their opponents centuries ago. The difference today is how those drones are put to use.
For the Americans, and by extension for the Israelis (America provides almost all the drones for Israel), the approach has been to develop very sophisticated, high-tech drones. Thus, the top three American Drones are the Predator (MQ-1), the Reaper (MQ-9), and the Triton (MQ-4C), all with multi-million dollar price tags, the Triton at nearly $200 million per copy. Beyond that, the US has a selection of smaller Drones, with surveillance as their primary mission. Only the small “Switch Blade 300 Drone” has, as its primary mission, to deliver munitions (it’s a kamikaze Drone).
For America, the principal mission of most of its Drones is to provide eyes-in-the-sky, an additional level of surveillance of any battlefield. With America’s nearly unlimited budget, this has enabled our country to push the envelope in developing new and innovative Drone technology.
On the other side of the battle line, the Axis of Resistance has neither the resources nor technology to match the American-Israeli side. The Drones they produce are inexpensive to make and, by and large, use technology developed by Iran more than 25 years ago. But it’s how they utilize their drones that make the difference.
To the Axis, Drones are an offensive weapon used to strike specific targets.
This week, the headlines all report the attack by Hezbollah on the Golani Brigade, killing four and injuring 60 Israeli soldiers. The Israeli military reports that the Drone used was a Sayyad 107. Produced in Iran, this Drone has a range of only 60 miles, with targeting and guidance set at launch, although it does have some ability to elude defenders. It can fly at low altitudes, making tracking difficult with radar. In the attack on the Golani Brigade, the Israeli Air Force reported seeing the Drone, but it then dropped off their radar before they could intercept it.
Of course, this is only one of many Drone attacks that the Axis of Resistance has carried out. Perhaps the most successful has been the blockade of the Red Sea by Ansar Allah, better known as the Houthis. For nearly a year, the Houthis have denied access to the Red Sea for any ships bound for Israel.
The United States responded to the Houthi blockade by assembling a fleet of warships in opposition. Included in the group were the USS Eisenhower Carrier strike group, three US Destroyers, and two British Destroyers. In addition, 20 other nations pledged their support for “Operation Prosperity Guardian.” Although the US continues to initiate air strikes on Yemen (the Houthis home country), the blockade continues. Last week, the port of Eilat (Israel’s only Red Sea port) declared bankruptcy.
The Houthis did all this by using the Samad Drones, a series of drones first supplied by Iran. According to all reports, the Houthi produce the Drone’s fuselage, while Iran and European defense contractors supply components. These low-cost, low-tech drones have effectively halted sea traffic in one of the world’s most significant transport points.
Finally, there has been the increasing use of Drones to overwhelm Israeli air defenses. We first saw this tactic during Iran’s first missile attack on Israel on April 13, 2024. Using their own slow-flying Drones as decoys, the Iranians followed with a fuselage of missiles aiming to take out primary targets. While the Iron Dome anti-missile system focused on the slow-flying drones, some of the Iranian missiles apparently did reach their targets.
The Israelis and Americans now face a substantial challenge: a new offensive weapon has been introduced. The low-tech, relatively inexpensive Drone has now become a formidable foe. No doubt, Israel’s battle plans presumed that they might receive drone attacks from nearby Hamas in Gaza or Hezbollah in Lebanon; some newer drones are attacking Israel from a distance. Just last week, Israel received drone attacks from the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, over 500 miles away, and from the Houthis, in Yemen, over 1,300 miles away.
The Islamic Resistance has demonstrated new ways to use an old weapon, drones, to attack Israel. This is taking the battle Israel faces to an all-new level. Like the Kentucky Long Rifle, the lowly Drone is proving to be a most formidable weapon.
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