Unmanned Aerial Vehicle: Unsung Active Victor

Wars create ironies, and that is certainly the case now in the United States’ war in Afghanistan and Iraq. After developing the strongest military ever seen on Earth, the U.S. is actually struggling to fight against groups of terrorists, even without the threat of the Soviet Union anymore. The U.S. Air Force has the undeniable air superiority around the globe, and one of the many factors is its arsenal of cutting-edge aircraft. And yet, the types of aircraft that are making the biggest difference in the combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan are the unmanned aerial vehicles, or simply known as the “UAV”s. When people say they want to become “pilots”, they mean the ones who “fly” aircraft while also physically being in the “air” themselves as well – the UAV pilots do not; they sit, look at the screen, and control their aircraft with joysticks like video games. Therefore, it is reasonable for the U.S. Air Force leaders to consider UAVs as trivial. However, it is time for the leaders of the United States military and government to accept the effectiveness of this weapon and continue developing more to adapt to this asymmetrical war.

The history of the UAV was imbedded with ironies as well. The drones were always considered as a "bastard stepchild of the military", especially because the U.S. Air Force’s “manned platform” has glorified the real pilots and airmen in combats. In fact, the drones have always been effective in battles but never cool. The unmanned drones were first developed and used during World War II for antiaircraft target practice. Then a young Japanese American engineer named Norman Sakamoto came up with the idea of putting a camera at the nose of the drones for aerial reconnaissance. Ironically, Sakamoto, the “godfather of drones,” spent the first two years of World War II with his family in a Japanese internment camp in Arizona. After its great use during the Vietnam War, the UAV was set aside. In the meantime, Israel has surpassed the U.S. in drones technology so that by the 1990’s, the U.S. had to learn the technology back from its allies. Since then, both the air force and the CIA have been pursuing more uses of the UAVs. This shows that the U.S. military’s preference for large conventional weapons has marginalized some of our own critical technology; so that we let it get passed onto others until we need them back again. This type of cycle has continued.

By the beginning of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, those UAVs were only considered as fancy accessories. Just about five years later, they are crucial in the combat zones, more so than the fancy fighter jets. The total number of the UAVs in the U.S. military have increased by twenty five fold since the beginning of the Iraq War, and many seem to be frustrated with the slow pace of deployments, especially the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who said last April that “I've been wrestling for months to get more intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets into the theater. Because people were stuck in the old ways of doing things, it's been like pulling teeth.” His quote underscores the overall issue in the Pentagon. The “old ways” that Gates referred to are the ways the military has dealt with the Soviet threat – a nation versus nation, nukes v. nukes, or any massive conventional weapons to rival each other. Gates calls greater need for the new ways, including targeting borderless terrorists and reducing collateral damage. In this case, the UAVs are more effective than fighter jets.

How are the UAVs making differences in Iraq and Afghanistan then? It is mostly the tremendous technological advantage of the drones – their cameras are so sensitive that they can spot little details of appearance and movement of an individual person on the ground even at night or through gun smoke; they can also pick up radio transmissions and the location. There are two main types of UAVs used in Iraq and Afghanistan right now – Shadow and Predator. Shadow is the one mostly used for reconnaissance and espionage. Then the predator is the one that “preys” and actually engages once all the information has been gathered. The UAVs first relieve some burdens off the ground troops who used to patrol and monitor around the city for hours; they would just be in the air with its “unblinking eye” for hours. Then they track down militants even when they were hiding among the civilian population; it “finds, fixes, and finishes” by itself or by working together with the troops on the ground. For example, when it spots a very dangerous movement by a single or a small number of militants, it tracks down and stops them. It helps the human intelligence on the ground (either the U.S. troops or Iraqis) by providing information or supporting operations. For example, when scattered terrorists come out, the drones will give the live feeds of the operation theater to the commanders so they can analyze the tactics and patterns. Then it can wait until the militants move to integrate in one place, and fully attack with the ground troops. The accurate intelligence and targeting also reduces a great amount of collateral damage. And, it could be easily mistaken for a bird for its size and movement. There cannot be more ideal weapon than UAV in an asymmetrical war.

The U.S. commanders in Baghdad right now are making the best use of the UAVs they can to bring peace and stability. The prime example of its contribution is the recent turn of the tide in Sadr City, the part of Baghdad that is controlled by a Shiite cleric Al-Sadr, who is also vehemently anti-American. This has led to a mingling of civilians and anti-American Shia militias (most Anti-American insurgents are Sunnis), making it the most difficult place in Iraq for the U.S. military to attack or even simply access before. Nowadays, the civilians can come out into the streets, and the U.S. troops can easily patrol the area both day and night.

The UAV is finally receiving the credit it deserves in Sadr City, and its role is likely to expand throughout wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is still a notion that the drone pilots are not real pilots and the UAVs are not simply cool. Yet, despite the penchant for massive and fancy aircraft, the UAV, with the history imbedded with ironies, has proven it is a bigger player than any other types right now in the wars the U.S. is currently fighting. It is time for the adaptation of a new type of warfare, and put the bias aside for the effectiveness in battles. It will feel like one is just sitting playing video games, but he or she should always be proud of whatever the job is when serving the country and fighting for peace.