The Cat-and-Mouse Game of Preventing Drone Nightmares

SUBSCRIBER+ EXCLUSIVE REPORTING – As drones of all types – aerial, land, and maritime – grow in number and sophistication, so do nightmarish scenarios about their use. Drone weapons have already been used to deadly effect by both sides in Ukraine and by Iran’s various proxies in the Middle East, but what worries military and technological experts are the drone weapons of the future – a future that they believe is right around the corner. 

Coming soon: AI-enabled drones that can pick out targets with no human direction; drones that might target U.S. infrastructure; and mass, synchronized movements of drones – so-called “drone swarms” –that might come after a military target. And experts say there is no reason to think that the U.S. and its allies will have anything close to a monopoly on these technologies.