drone warfare

Ukrainian Special Group "Alpha" operators alongside a multirotor FPV drone during the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2023

Drone warfare is a form of warfare that involves the deployment of military robots and unmanned systems. The unmanned systems may be remote controlled by a pilot or have varying levels of autonomy during their mission. Drones are a force multiplier that may supplement–or reduce the necessity for–live personnel during operations. Types of unmanned systems and platforms include unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), unmanned surface vehicles (USV) or unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), and unmanned ground vehicles (UGV). SUAVs and MAVs are man-portable UAVs and can be deployed for low-altitude, short-range support operations. Autonomous drones such as autonomous aircraft and LAWs utilize artificial intelligence or pre-programmed algorithms. As of 2019, the following nations have been identified as having operational UCAVs: China, France, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine.