Drones as Emerging Threats: Small unmanned aerial systems have rapidly become a double-edged sword – offering benefits for civilians while introducing new threats on battlefields and in public spaces ctc.westpoint.edu ctc.westpoint.edu. Terrorist organizations and insurgents have weaponized cheap commercial drones for bombings, kamikaze strikes, and reconnaissance, often with devastating effect ctc.westpoint.edu ctc.westpoint.edu. In recent years, violent non-state actors like ISIS, Hamas, and Yemen’s Houthi rebels have carried out hundreds of drone attacks – a study counted 1,122 such incidents from 2006–2023, with an annual peak of 265 attacks in 2023 ctc.westpoint.edu. Nation-states are adopting similar tactics; the ongoing war in Ukraine has been called the first “drone war,” with both sides deploying swarms of small drones for surveillance and strikes, forcing defenders to scramble for countermeasures insideunmannedsystems.com.
