The curious cases of downed drones: A welcome diversion

Drones are a peculiar and ingenious invention. In the current warfare and circumstances, they satisfy our selfish and rather lily-livered need to eavesdrop, kill and destroy without facing the slightest chance of reciprocation in kind. 

Initially, drones were used for surveillance. However, the latest advanced drone technology turns them into machines that can slay and obliterate. They were hailed as a most important 21st-century war “game changer” when they were rolled out in 2001, fresh from the incubator, not fully tested. It was the MQ-1 Predator, manufactured by an American firm in San Diego – General Atomics – that utilised AGM-114 Hellfire air-to ground missiles. It was the first generation of drone with a lethal payload.

An “unmanned aerial vehicle” (UAV) is a generic official name of a drone. Among other technical and official names are “unmanned aircraft system” (UAS), or “remotely piloted aircraft” (RPA). The first attempt at a UAV was in 1916. The technology was rushed through during the Second World War when jet engines were applied, and were further developed over the years. But until the Vietnam War, drones were largely remote controlled planes. My brothers and I used to own several drones, and even made some ourselves from balsa wood.

The first modern UAV was developed by the Israelis during the Yom Kippur War in 1973 for surveillance, decoy and electronic warfare. In the 1990s the US Navy bought the Pioneer UAV from Israel, further developed the technology, and used it extensively during the 1991 Gulf War. The maturing and miniaturisation of applicable technologies made the UAV a war machine of choice of the US military because drones became more versatile, durable in both reconnaissance and attack missions. 

With these new advanced destruction capabilities, the UAV acquired an updated name – an “unmanned combat air vehicle” or UCAV. These days, the military role of UAVs and UCAVs has been growing at an unprecedented rate. They cost from a few thousand dollars to tens of million dollars, with weight ranging from less than one pound to over 40,000 pounds. They can even perform live capture, details of which are still considered top secret.

UAVs have been designed and developed around the world, but the market is dominated by US manufacturers, with a market share of over 60 per cent in 2006. In recent years, the US Air Force’s budget for UAV programmes increased by 60 per cent then 284 per cent. Drones are prone to malfunctions and crashes due to many technical reasons. 

The US military admits that with these drones, downing is not a question of “if” but “when”. But UAV benefits outweigh the cost and the mishaps, some of which result in hundreds of lost, innocent lives. Today, drones are an integral part of the US warfare strategy. As a result, the US possesses the most advanced drone technology and capabilities.

That’s why the downing of the American RQ-170 Sentinel surveillance drone in Iran last week, due to mechanical malfunction while remaining physically intact, made for a most intriguing story.  

For many, this is a deja vu situation reminiscent of the May 1960 downing of an American U-2 surveillance plane in the Soviet Union.  That time it was a Soviet surface-to-air missile that shot the U-2 down. 

For others, the Iranian incident is worse in the sense that the vehicle remains intact, with information and technology to be taken for free. The images on Iranian television that showed two men in military uniforms running their hands across the swept wing frame of the drone caused enormous embarrassment and humiliation to the US government. The former vice president, Dick Cheney, angrily opined that the US should have sent destroyers to take out the downed drone, rather than leave it in the hands of the Iranians.  President Obama has issued a formal request for the return of the drone, as if his nation had any stock of goodwill left in Iran that it would warrant a positive response from the Iranians.

Some news media described the Sentinel as the US’s “super spy drone”, suggesting losses greater than of face for the US. Some reported that the Chinese and Russians were sprinting to get hold of the hardware and software from this UAV.  

Iran has been among the most important surveillance targets for the US, which has reportedly been flying drones of various capabilities over Iran since 2004. Some of these were mistaken by some locals as UFOs. Iran has been protesting for years at the United Nations Security Council, demanding an end to such “unlawful acts”. But as the US carries the one majority veto at this international forum, the complaints have not gone far.

Given the law of averages, the fact that one of the many drones dedicated to collecting intelligence over Iran went down should have been expected. Several normal reasons that can contribute to the crash – human error, incorrect information, network interference, system failure, weather, etc – should make the incident unsurprising. The RQ-170 Sentinel drone’s first photograph went public in 2007, flying from Afghan airbases over Iran. So it is fair to say that this type of drone may not be the “super drone” many claim it to be.

The truth about the downed drone in Iran will not be shared with the public for some time. Meanwhile, drones with the most advanced sensors, unmatched speed and loiter time, and more precise lethal payloads, will continue to fly and perform in war zones where the US is present. They will continue to transform the way America fights and thinks about its wars, and the world will continue to accommodate them.

However, not all drones are menacing. In June of this year, the arrest of three burglars was made in North Dakota by a Predator B drone. The case involved six stolen cows. The sweep by the drone uncovered “three burglars, four rifles, two shotguns, assorted bows and arrows and a samurai sword” along with the six missing four-legged creatures.

Beautiful.