Clara Steiner

May 8th, 2011

Social Studies 201

IB Historical Investigation

To what extent did the War on Terror influence

the development of robotic warfare and drones?

Table of Contents

Plan of the Investigation

Summary of Evidence

Evaluation of Sources

Analysis

Conclusion

Sources

A. Plan of the Investigation

To what extent did the War on Terror influence the development of robotic warfare and
drones?

B. Summary of Evidence:

In the 1980s the usefulness of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicle) was questioned until
the Isreali Air force defeated the Syrian Air Force through the use of UAVs.1

In 1991 during Desert Storm, UAVs played a large role at the tactical level and
expansion in reconnaissance. 2

The RQ-1 Predator, making its first test flight in 1994, was used for border control,
atmospheric research, and Hellfire. 3

The fiscal year of 2012 budget included $5 billion in research, development, and
procurement for drones. 4

The Pentagon now has over 7,000 drones as of 2012 as opposed to having fewer than
50 a decade ago. 5

The cost per hour flight of drones van range from 2,000-3,000 for Reaper and
Predator drones to $30,000 per hour for the Global Hawk. 6

Tetrault, Cam. "A Short History of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)." Draganfly UAV News RSS.
Draganfly Innovations, n.d. Web. 16 June 2013.
2
Ibid.
3
Darack, Ed. "AirSpaceMag.com." Air and Space Magazine. Smithsonian Media, 18 May 2011. Web. 16
June 2013.
4
Southwarth, Matt. "Understanding Drones." FCNL. Friendship Committee on National Legislation, n.d.
Web. 16 June 2013.
5
Ibid.
6
Ibid.

President Obama oversees a kill list for drone use that includes biographical
information on terrorist suspects. 7

The American Security Projects revealed that on a weekly basis about 100 members
of the national security infrastructure meet to discuss the next targets for drones. No
decisions can be made without the Presidents approval. 8

EMT a prominent drone-maker in Germany, has tripled in size in the past 7 years
because of a snowball effect in which American began buying drones, and now
countries from all over are buying drones. 9

As of 2009, senior U.S. officials were pushing for the CIA to expand drone use
beyond the Pakistani tribal lands and into a major city, such as Quetta, to pressure the
Pakistani government to pursue Taliban leaders. This use of drones signals a new
determination by the U.S. to stop the Taliban. 10

The War on Terror has pushed the U.S. to use drone warfare as a means to implement
fear in showing that the U.S. is determined. It also shows that U.S. desperation is
growing. 11

The CIA had been using drones along the tribal bet for about 2 years before, using an
extensive network of informants. These attacks have been confined along Pakistans
northwestern border.12

Ibid.
Ibid.
9
Bronner, Michael. "Everybody Wants a Drone!" Warscapes. Warscapes Magazine, 2012. Web. 16 June
2013.
10
Miller, Greg, and Julian E. Barnes. "Drone Attacks May Be Expanded in Pakistan." Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times, 14 Dec. 2009. Web. 16 June 2013.
11
Ibid.
12
Ibid.
8

Drone strikes in rural Pakistan are ruining already weak tribal structure and causing
chaos, and are fueling anti-American sentiment. 13

The war on terror has intensified the conflict between the tribes and the Pakistani
government. The tribes are rejected authority by the Pakistani government and are
inflamed by the drone strikes that America has been sending over.14

September 30, 2011, two unmanned Predator drones killed Anwar Al-Awlaki, an
American member of Al Qaeda. Three other suspected members traveling with
Awlaki were also killed.15

The U.S. military used under 100 drones in the invasion of Iraq in 2003, but as of
2012, over 7,000 UAVs and 12,000 unmanned ground systems are in its inventory.16

Dramatic advances in robotics due to the war on terror in the past ten years have
begun the accelerated path towards the automated battlefield.17

There is criticism that the use of drones in war by the U.S. government makes the
fighting antiseptic. They also raise the questions of the legality of using drones in
countries that the U.S. isnt at war with, such as Yemen, Pakistan, and Somalia.18

Just after Pakistans new prime minister announced his cabinet, American drones
killed seven people. Despite Pakistans harsh criticism about American drone use by
the new prime minister, these occurrences dont seem to be decreasing.19

13

Ahmed, Akbar. "The Drone War Is Far From Over." New York Times. New York Times, 30 May 2013.
Web. 16 June 2013.
14
Ibid.
15
Barnaby, Charles F. "Automated Warfare Is on the Way; What Are the Consequences?"BestThinking.
Best Thinking Inc., n.d. Web. 16 June 2013.
16
Ibid.
17
Ibid.
18
Finn, Peter. "A Future for Drones: Automated Killing." Washington Post. Washington Post, 19 Sept.
2011. Web. 16 June 2013.
19
Masood, Salmon. "U.S. Drone Strike Kills at Least 7 in Pakistan as New Prime Minister Announces
Cabinet." New York Times. New York Times, 7 June 2013. Web. 16 June 2013.

The war has increased the development of drones. Growth of drone activity in war
has changed the mindset for many in battle by anticipating more and more use of
drones as opposed to people.20

The Airforce predicts the sheet number of drones will decrease, but their capabilities
for drone will increase, allowing them to complete multiples tasks at once, such as
spying and striking.21

Spying drones have also grown dramatically in importance as seen by the use of a
new RQ-170 Sentinal drone to spy on Osama Bin Ladens compound in Pakistan. 22

A high-level Al Qaeda member, Ilyas Kashmiri, was reported to be killed last month
(May 2011) through a C.I.A. ran drone strike. The C.I.A. claims that the drone strike
campaign has helped incapacitate Al Qaeda in the region.23

From 2006 to 2011, over 1,900 tribal insurgents have been killed by drone strikes in
Pakistan.24

In April 2011, Predator drones began being used in Libya to hold off Colonel
Muammars forces.25

Growing development for drones has been going in the direction of mimicking animal
flight in order to maximize efficiency and stealth when the drones are in use.
Developers goals are to create the stealthiest flyers in the sky.26

20

Bumiller, Elisabeth, and Thom Shanker. "War Evolves With Drones, Some Tiny as Bugs." New York
Times. New York Times, 19 June 2011. Web. 16 June 2013.
21
Ibid.
22
Ibid.
23
Ibid.
24
Ibid.
25
Ibid.
26
Ibid.

From 2009-2012, the C.I.A. launched 239 drone strikes into Pakistan, while the
Pentagon and Special Operations have fired an unknown number of missiles into
Afghanistan, Yemen, etc.27

The U.S. has an extensive drone infrastructure that has clandestine bases in at least
six countries and two continents.28

In 2011, due to deteriorating relations between Washington and Islamabad relations,

drone strikes were suspended in Pakistan.29

Drone strikes have killed between 2,500-3500 civilians in Pakistan.30

The New American Foundation reported that only 2% of those killed by drone strikes
are high level targets.31

Drone use has increased through the war on terror because they reduce the number of
American lives at risk.32

C. Evaluation of Sources:

D. Analysis:
The War on Terror has proliferated the U.S. militarys use of drones and unmanned
automated vehicles (UAVs) in the past 12 years. During the initial invasion of Iraq in
2003, fewer than 50 drones were used for use in communication networking and missile

27

Cortright, David. "License to Kill." Cato Unbound. Cato Institute, 9 Jan. 2012. Web. 16 June 2013.
Ibid.
29
Ibid.
30
Gram, Danielle. "PolicyMic." PolicyMic. Mic Network Inc., Oct. 2012. Web. 16 June 2013.
31
Ibid.
32
Barry, Tom. "Drone Proliferation: Other Chapters and Other Challenges." Cato Unbound. Cato Institute,
17 Jan. 2012. Web. 16 June 2013.
28

strikes. As of 2012, over 7,000 are in Congress inventory. This growth accelerated so
quickly due to the efficiency of robotic warfare and practicality in foresight. During this
war, thousands of Americans have been sent overseas. With the growth of robotic
warfare, Congress and the heads of the military see that American soldiers do not have to
be forced on the battlefield, but rather, drones can be used to swiftly handle once
dangerous situations. From the years 2009 and 2012, the C.I.A. has launched 239 missiles
by drones into Yemen, Afghanistan, and other cities. This shows the U.S. governments
willingness to use drones has been increasing due to the fact that they immediately save
American lives. Disposition to use drones has developed into a kill list of high priority
terrorists kept by the president as well as weekly meetings of security officials to discuss
potential targets. The latter of which cannot make any decisions without executive
authority.
The use of robotic warfare has grown over time as the U.S. desperation to end the
war on terror has grown. In 2009, senior Congress officials were pressuring the Pakistani
government to allow drone use in the city of Quetta in order to tackle Taliban members
hiding in the city. The pure duration of the two wars in the Middle East has pushed the
U.S. to had brought a new resolve to bring down the Taliban and Al Qaeda and to
successfully implement a government in Afghanistan.

E. Conclusion:
F. Sources: