The weapon of the 21st century is the military drone

Marine Corps Commander Kenneth McKenzie Jr. drew attention in an online conference to the fact that certain religious fanatics are risking upset the balance of power in armed Iraq, which belongs to the area under his command, by arming drones made for civilian use.

According to him, these devices are able to take off and land from the scene and are very difficult to detect, so they can be of significant benefit to insurgents fighting American troops, but research to counter the threat is already in full swing. The general’s words are particularly surprising because this method has been used by the Islamic State against the Assad regime in Syria since 2014. The attacks were so successful that the Iraqi army began to copy the method, even taking over a badminton to stabilize the “projectile”.

Earlier versions of civilian DJI Phantoms were used by the Islamic State not only for reconnaissance and observation almost from the beginning, but the destruction of American or Russian / Soviet 40mm grenades dropped from drones was recorded on most occasions. Grenades dropped from a height of 50-100 meters on unsuspecting soldiers The general’s words are particularly surprising because this method has been used by the Islamic State against the Assad regime in Syria since 2014. The attacks were so successful that the Iraqi army began to copy the method, even taking over a badminton to stabilize the “projectile”.

Earlier versions of civilian DJI Phantoms were used by the Islamic State not only for reconnaissance and observation almost from the beginning, but the destruction of American or Russian / Soviet 40mm grenades dropped from drones was recorded on most occasions. Grenades dropped from a height of 50-100 meters on the unsuspecting soldiers caused serious losses, and on one occasion, by destroying a ferry, they managed to thwart an entire river crossing. It is likely that videos depicting several attacks have given further impetus to Turkey’s drone program, which has long had a serious relationship with the Islamic State, and the fruits of which have been “ripe” in the Azerbaijani-Armenian war. That it is not impossible to defend against sufnituning “bombers” is evidenced by the successful (air) defense of the Russian-used Hmeimimi air base for years.

Phantom-type civilian drones are indeed difficult to detect due to their small size, however, a regular army would have to interfere with most radio frequencies in the area of ​​operations, i.e., block the operation of civilian communications. Why? For example, due to the relevant lines in the movie Falcon in Endangerment: a little guy sitting on a rooftop with a radio in his hand it was enough to warn the circling warlord of the departure of American helicopters. Doing so essentially alone in causing the failure of the operation by doing so. Therefore, civilian communications cannot work in the field of military operations, so when I turn on my known drone control equipment, which interferes with civilian frequencies, the problem is already solved. Although NATO armies lag far behind the Russians and Chinese in electronic warfare, they already have this capability.

Because of the regular use of remote-controlled IEDs (improvised explosive devices) specifically in Iraq (and, to a lesser extent, Afghanistan), they are already equipped with interfering devices for American forces, so in the words of the general, “flying IEDs” should not be a problem. In addition, they are so prevalent that almost all Humvee and MRAPs have a long, cylindrical antenna, usually mounted on bumpers, which is part of the jammer (interference devices) that have been systematized for nearly 10 years.