Loitering munitions are nothing new on the battlefield, but cheaper versions could soon be a game-changer. They first started to appear in the 1980s as Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) weapons, and they were soon dubbed as “suicide drones” and “kamikaze drones”.
It is a weapon system in which the munition is an armed drone that flies over an area and waits in search of the target, only attacking once it has been located or exposed. The circuit overflight phase allows for the selection of targets to be hit, the collection of further information before the attack, and even the abortion of the attack mission if the reasons or advantages of finalising the attack no longer exist, or there are collateral losses (such as civilian casualties). Loitering weapons, therefore, have an obvious advantage over artillery and even missile ammunition, allowing weapon recovery in the event of a mission abortion. They can be categorised in the niche between cruise missiles and Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs), sharing characteristics with both.
The new technological developments made kamikaze drones very small and light (they could even be carried in a backpack!) and, most importantly, very inexpensive. The new generation, such as the one developed by the American company AeroVironment, will cost just $6,000 apiece. Various experts compared the impact of suicide drones on the battlefield to Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Some even went as far as saying that kamikaze drones would change ground warfare as profoundly as the machine gun did (Dilanian, 2021).
Very often, they cannot be intercepted by radars due to their small size. In addition, at the moment, the military has very few weapons to counter them: it could fire bullets at the sky or use high-powered microwaves weapons against incoming drones, but these are only viable options in a desert, not in cities. So far, no terrorist group is known to have used kamikaze drones, but it is only a matter of time.
Very often, they cannot be intercepted by radars due to their small size. In addition, at the moment, the military has very few weapons to counter them: it could fire bullets at the sky or use high-powered microwaves weapons against incoming drones, but these are only viable options in a desert, not in cities. So far, no terrorist group is known to have used kamikaze drones, but it is only a matter of time.
As of 2021, loitering munitions are used in several countries, including Germany, Poland, Turkey, Israel, Iran, Azerbaijan, India, China, and the United States. Germany is using Israeli drones called Harop, thanks to a decade-long partnership between Rheinmetall Defence and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), while Poland is using WB Electronics Warmate, developed by the Polish WB Electronics. Other European countries want to add this crucial technology to their arsenals. Italy, for example, is currently in talks to buy the Israeli Hero-30 produced by UVision.
Written by Francesco Giannelli
Bibliography:
Dilanian K., (2021), “Kamikaze drones: A new weapon brings power and peril to the U.S. military”, NbcNews, [online]. Available at: shorturl.at/flKLN [Accessed: 10th December 2021]
