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Technically Speaking

Drones .
Drones.

Drones .
Drones.

Ever ywhere .
Everywhere.

by Dave Trecker
hey are ubiquitous. Those annoying, buzzing things that What was less publicized was the massive use of drones by both
look like mosquitoes from afar and come in all sizes and sides. It’s not unusual now to read of thousands of drones being
T invade our lives in every way imaginable. used by Russia and Ukraine at the same time and with frightening
They’re called drones and they’ve been around for a long time. efficiency. Cost is of little concern, The small ones can be produced
The first recoverable “unmanned aerial vehicle” was developed for well under $50,000, a far cry from the cost of a tank or a missile.
just after World War I by the U.S. Navy and used sporadically in And it’s a winning strategy. According to the WSJ, drones have
World War II. Mass production began in the early 1960s. been three times more effective in inflicting casualties than all other
I first tried one about ten years ago, instructed by a son-in-law weapons combined.
at the time who used it to snoop on neighbors and spot foxes in the They’ve certainly changed the format for warfare. Today
adjoining woods at dusk. They are still available as toys. You can get command centers are often made up of young videogame players.
a pretty good one from Amazon for under $500. Top guns with computers. The days of the Red Baron are long gone.
But drones are much more than toys now. When my wife With drones fighting other drones in the air, quick reflexes are more
and I sold our Naples house last year, our realtor used a drone to important than military training.
photograph the property. Turns out that’s pro forma, part of the A former videogame developer, a Ukrainian nicknamed Kratos,
sales process for many single-family homes in Southwest Florida, personally made over 380 confirmed drone interceptions last year.
part of the advertising shtick. He was quoted in the WSJ as saying, “It is the stuff of movies, TV
And weddings. I’m told wedding planners use them to record shows and books, but here we are in life and death situations every
the festivities for later viewing – everything from the nuptials to the day.”
dancing to the rowdy behavior at night. It’s a new cottage industry. Anduril Industries’ Christian Brose sees all of this as part of
And how about sports? Drones buzz about providing aerial views an ongoing revolution in military aircraft. The go-to, he says, will
of baseball fields and soccer pitches, even indoor hockey rinks. We eventually be “vehicles half the size of fighter jets with business jet
take them for granted, expecting no less for our TV viewing. Follow engines in back – much larger than what comes to mind when we
the long pass from above or watch the soccer kick leading to a hear the word ‘drone.’”
breakaway. They’ve become a staple of sports journalism. These newer, more destructive robots will be able to carry heavier
But that all pales compared to military use. A recent Wall Street payloads and fly them greater distances than ever before, turning
Journal headline screamed, “Drones Redo Rules of War.” And a tactical weapon into a strategic one for only modestly more cost.
they have done just that. Pentagon officials say they are the biggest Drones will soon become global weapons. A six-hour flight is said
battlefield innovation in a generation. Explosive-laden buzz flies. to be within reach.
Everyone has read of the audacious attack deep inside Russia last Is this worrisome? You bet.
year by drones sneaked in by Ukraine to destroy Russian bombers. James Rogers, a drone expert at Cornell University, was quoted
That was followed in short order by Israel taking out Iran’s air by the WSJ as saying, “Cheap, long-range saturation strikes are one
defenses with drone strikes. of the greatest threats to international security today.”
Dr. Trecker is a chemist and retired Pfizer executive living in Naples.

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