Rather than delivering firepower, the value of the Predator and Reaper against the Islamic State is their ability to loiter over the war zone virtually around the clock, gathering intelligence, finding targets and leading manned aircraft to them with the aid of daylight video and infrared cameras, laser designators and other sensors.
But if the number and firepower of today’s drones limits their role in such conflicts, that probably won’t always be the case.
The Predator and Reaper are the drone equivalent of World War I’s biplanes, and future drones will be far more capable. The Navy is experimenting with a drone technology demonstrator the size of a conventional fighter plane, and one vision for the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter — sometimes called the “last manned fighter” — is that its pilot may fly with a swarm of drone escorts equipped to penetrate tough air defenses and rain weapons on enemy ground targets.
Fearsome or awesome as that may sound, it’s a prospect that still lies over the horizon.
Richard Whittle is the author of “Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution” (Henry Holt and Company), out now.
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