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The day man portable Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) emerged on the battlefield, things changed forever. These small Quad-copters are now a deadly new addition to fighting forces around the world. This is as much an advancement in warfare as manned flight was back in World War One. Sure UAVs in general changed the game by allowing pilots the safety of a remote location thousands of miles away, if not the other side of the planet. However, when an individual soldier can carry a small Quad-copter and some ordinance on his person in combat, things change.
Life saving potential
But before we get to the deadly aspect these vehicles can present, let’s talk about the life saving aspect. It is known that the American Military, especially the U.S. Army, will be utilizing man portable Quad-copters and other “throwable robots” for various intelligence gathering, situational awareness, and observation roles. One of the main roles of these small devices is for EOD, or Explosive Ordinance Disposal. The role of the small drone would be to locate the explosive in an environment that is too dangerous for a person. One specific task comes to mind, the locating and clearing of antipersonnel mines.
This is a function the U.S. Army has admitted to using these tiny devices for. But they are also going to be used for classified actions as well. I wonder what that could be? Simple. Just look to the nearest hotbed of modern combat. A prime candidate is the Donbass Region of Ukraine that is engaged in a “Civil War” with Russian backed “proxy” rebels. Here you will see a couple of the Quad-copter uses on an actual battlefield.
Fast Flying Intel Gathering
First up we have a standard intelligence gathering mission courtesy of one extremely fast Quad-copter. This little robots mission is to gather location intel on a particular trench system occupied by Russian Proxy fighters. You will see how the video pauses to outline a soldier looking like a deer in headlights at the drone as it whizzes by. And also, the locations of various “mine launching” devices that are used to keep the Ukrainian National forces at bay. This Quad-copter is as quick as the competition drones that race professionally in the international Drone Racing League (DRL). I’m surprised this little guy wasn’t shot down honestly.
Silent But Deadly
And now for the literal Coupe de Grace. In this next video we see a weaponized version of the small Quad-copter. Instead of flying around at dozens of Kilometers per hour, this one is stationed still and motionless, like an Owl awaiting it’s prey. Then we see a small bomb drop from the bottom of the drone. A “Mini-Bomb” to be precise. It floats down to a single Russian Proxy soldier walking unaware below. The mini-bomb disappears out of sight then BOOM goes the dynamite! In an explosion a little wider than the mans body, the bomb detonates behind his head and throws what remains of it a couple meters in front of his body. Watch the replay and you’ll see it zoomed in.
History DOES repeat itself
The interesting thing here is the repetition of history of armed tiny Quad-copters and Powered Flight. Both technologies where so new to their respective battlefields, they changed the game of warfare. And both technologies started as observational in nature. Until someone realized they could carry a few bombs in the cockpit and then drop them out over a target. Now, the 21st century robots the size of a small dog are carrying bombs about the same size of their 100+ year old cousins. The only difference is modern explosive materials and designs to the ordinance, but the technique is still the same. Hover above the enemy unknowingly, and drop death on their head.
The fact that the U.S. Army is utilizing these small UAV Quad-copters for observation tells us that they are most certainly using them for offensive attack roles as well. Maybe not the regular army, but the Green Berets, or other units in the US SOCOM group are most assuredly in on some tiny bomb dropping from the sky types of tactics. That’s just classified. You don’t need to know. Except now, you do.
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