De Gruyter Handbook of Drone Warfare

In 2010, 60 states had a military drone program. Today at least 113 countries and 65 non-state actors now have access to weaponized drone technologies. This is an increase of 88 per cent in just over a decade. Alongside this, established 'drone powers' - the U.S., China, Turkey, and Iran - have expanded their own use of military drones, increasing the sale and deployment of drones around the world. In the De Gruyter Handbook of Drone Warfare, drone expert, policy adviser, and historian, Dr James Patton Rogers, brings together 37 of the world's leading voices on the growing issue of commercial and military drone technologies. From the origins of military drones in the early 1900s, through to the resurgence of drone use during the War on Terror, this handbook explores the moral, ethical, technological, legal, military, geopolitical, social and strategic issues at the heart of drone warfare. The first handbook of its kind, the volume also addresses Russia's offensive war against Ukraine and provides a focused analysis of the future of drone warfare and the opportunities and perils of the coming Third Drone Age.