Middle East’s drone race, and implication of weaponizations on the security landscape

Abstract

With the advancements in technological wars, autonomous systems and their impact on the future security infrastructure have observed an increase in the defense debate. Lately, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have fascinated experts, engineers, and scholars due to their application in security, lethal military operations, and emergency scenarios, where they can be deployed in hostile environments. In addition to having many military impacts, and relatively high consequences when it comes to warfare; drone use has both security and political dynamics. Nonetheless, the unpredictability of the technology trajectories can lead to significant negative consequences, especially the complexities involved in their application when it comes to unsecured regions with ongoing conflicts and crises, of which, the Middle East region is characterized. According to past studies, with the steady escalation in the number of users, be it for military or non-military use, the regional countries, including the UAE, are building their inventory of tactical UAVs for security and border patrol applications. According to recent media reports, under the 2008-2016 administration of Barack Obama, drone strikes proliferated as a way of fighting the counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan without risking military personnel on dangerous air missions. Furthermore, the Trump administration has taken it to the next level by employing UAVs to perform highly targeted assassinations. For example, the assassination of Soleimani, Leader of the Quads force in Revolutionary Guards in Iran. At the same time, drones have been found to be a tool used by violent groups such as The Islamic Group of Hamas and Hezbollah, which creatively developed a novel and scalable drone-based weapons system constructed from commercial components. The most recent example is Yemen’s Houthis-backed drone attacks against Saudi Arabia’s Jizan and Khamis Mushatt in March 2021. Indeed, the same exciting technologies that promise to enhance human capacity to fight threats and improve security will potentially be enormous future threats. The capacity of militarized drones to perform stealth reconnaissance missions and launch precision attacks opens an all-new debate on the future security environment of the Middle East region; hence, this research aims to identify the security benefits as well as the risks of utilizing UAVs, the level at which they have penetrated, and how they have been creating controversies over the last decade in the region. The study will also utilize the qualitative research methodology in a cross-sectional approach to analyze and draw conclusions. The study will conduct an in-depth review of the literature using peer-reviewed journals, articles, websites, and textbooks of relative perspectives and studies to understand UAV technologies and their strategic importance in the security realm and discuss challenges presented by their proliferation beyond state control. With the steady growth in the application of militarized UAVs and increasing risk of commercial drones' expansion into lethal operations and its proliferation in the Gulf region; this paper will try to put into context both strategic benefits and threats to aid future researchers identify implications of UAVs in the targeted region for further study.