“Civilian” quadcopters (drones) and their role in modern military conflicts

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the use of commercial quadcopters in modern military conflicts. The relevance of the work is due to the fact that the experience of a special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine, as well as other military conflicts, has demonstrated to the whole world that even such a seemingly harmless tool as a quadcopter can become a formidable military force used in battle. The object of the study is commercial (also called “civilian”) quadcopters (drones). The subject of the study is the use of commercial quadcopters (drones) in modern military conflicts around the world. The author has studied in detail the process of development of commercial quadcopters (drones) as military instruments, and determined the role of quadcopters in modern military conflicts. Also, the author describes in detail the areas of application of civilian quadcopters in military conflicts. The research methodology is based on general scientific methods (content analysis method), as well as on special historical methods (narrative and historical-genetic). The scientific novelty of the article lies in a detailed study of the use of civilian quadcopters in modern military conflicts, namely: in a special military operation (SVO) on the territory of Ukraine, in military clashes between the Sudanese rapid reaction forces and the Sudanese armed forces, which began in April 2023, as well as in the Arab-Israeli conflict escalated again in October 2023. The author’s special contribution to the study of the topic is a detailed description of the use of civilian quadcopters in all of the above conflicts. The work also contains a large corpus of photographic materials on the use of quadcopters in military conflicts. Based on the study, we can conclude that the role of civilian quadcopters in modern military conflicts has significantly increased.