Deadly Drones Level Playing Field Between Terrorists, Militaries

ADF STAFF

Militaries can no longer assume they dominate the skies. Extremist groups are increasingly using drones to conduct surveillance, guide mortar attacks, and deploy as miniature, airborne weapons platforms.

The widespread availability of consumer-grade drones — helicopter-style and fixed-wing machines — is leveling the playing field between terrorist groups and better-funded, better-equipped military forces, according to experts.

“Airborne capability allows [extremists] to have a better view of the battle space and their operating environments,” Barbara Morais Figueiredo with the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research recently told Voice of America (VOA). “It also provides them with a new way of being able to get intelligence and also to plan and coordinate attacks, sometimes with a higher degree of lethality and precision.”

Extremist groups deploying drones often are aligned with the Islamic State group (IS) or al-Qaida, which have shifted their attention to Africa as their power in the Middle East has declined.

IS and al-Qaida have used weaponized drones widely in the Middle East, but their African affiliates have only recently added weaponized drones to their arsenals.

In July, for example, security officials in Puntland, Somalia, discovered a cache of weaponized drones that had been smuggled from Houthis rebels in Yemen, possibly for the benefit of al-Shabaab elsewhere in the country.

In Somalia, al-Shabaab has used drones to surveil the Somali National Army (SNA), peacekeeping groups, humanitarian organizations and foreign dignitaries. It also has used drones to film attacks on military bases across the border in Kenya for propaganda purposes.

In Nigeria, Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) use drones for  intelligence-gathering and battlefield surveillance. The same is true for terrorist groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Mozambique. In Mozambique, government forces shot down multiple terrorist observation drones in 2022 and 2023.

In Mali, Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) is suspected of using weaponized drones to kill 10 members of the Drozo militia, which is allied with the ruling junta against extremists.

“The April 14 attack shows the group has developed the knowledge to at least manufacture a release system to drop explosives, which can sometimes be as crude as a belt,” analysts Liam Karr and Matthew Gianitsos wrote recently for the Institute for the Study of War. “Future weaponized drone use would allow JNIM to strike targets that are otherwise difficult or impossible to reach, such as fortified or high-security locations.”

Experts say it’s hard to keep drones out of terrorists’ hands because the technology has plenty of legitimate uses. Karen Allen, a consultant with the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies, compares commercially available drones to mobile phones — technology that can be used to make calls or detonate roadside bombs.

“There is a real difficulty in being able to stop the use of a technology which is a dual-use technology,” Allen told VOA.

Slow-moving, low-flying drones can be vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire. However, Allen urges African militaries to invest more in anti-drone technology, such as jamming devices to disrupt drone controllers and lasers that can shoot down drones.

In recent years, drones have taken a greater role on the battlefield as terrorists modify them to carry and deliver simple weapons, such a mortar bombs, that can be dropped on people and buildings. Small drones are difficult to defend against.

Drones have evolved from reconnaissance tools to deadly weapons, according to the Small Wars Journal.

“The use of drones in this manner can increase the lethality and unpredictability of terrorist attacks, as well as the difficulty of detecting and intercepting them,” analyst Aliyu Dahiru wrote for Human Angle. “It can also create a psychological impact on the target population, as drones can induce fear and panic among civilians and security personnel.”