Drone technology and the future of ‘modern’ warfare

For the victims of most drone strikes, there is no warning at all. Undetected surveillance drones may have spied on the targeted individuals for days or weeks before an armed drone is directed to release its Hellfire missile. Victims may hear a brief hissing sound as the missile approaches, then a powerful blast kills or severely injures everyone in the targeted building or area. The result, of course, is devastating—certainly for those targeted, but perhaps also for us all. The use of military drones has played havoc with international law and the rules of war. They make war easier to conduct, easier to conceal, and easier to run out of control …   Read Dennis Phillips\u27 article on war by remote control in the Australian Review of Public Affairs