Twenty years ago, the drone was a rarity in conflict. In 2003, the first year of its war in Iraq, America had a paltry 163 drones, around 1 per cent of its entire fleet of aircraft. Now, they have come to dominate the battlefield and have also spread around the world. Russia and Ukraine are both reliant on drones to spot targets or destroy them directly.
Many are small and cheap airframes that can be produced in large numbers: the average Ukrainian battalion is getting through 3,000 a month, says Dr Jahara Matisek, a professor at the US Naval War College.
