Throughout history intelligence gathering has been left to forward observers, those who infiltrate the enemy, and those within the enemy organization who leak out information. In all these scenarios people are put at risk. Actual lives where on the line gathering this information; information that was changing in real-time. This put militaries in precarious situations. What information is outdated? What information has been doctored? What information is reliable? Is this where the enemy still is? Many of these questions have become answered through the US drone program.

The RQ-4 Global Hawk drone can provide real-time, continuous images, of enemy troop movements for 24 hours before needing to be refueled during that time  another RQ-4 Global Hawk drone can continue the information gathering. This capability is unheard of in military history and still is the sole domain of the United States military. The RQ-4 Global Hawk drone has advantages over both deploying troops and satellite images. Deploying troops to gather what a drone can easily gather means those troops cannot do another task. Satellites usually rotate around the world and are cost ineffective to remain parked over a certain mountain range in Afghanistan monitoring for enemy troop movements. The RQ-4 Global Hawk drone allows for the US armed forces to conduct surveillance in a cost effective manner compared to a satellite while simultaneously not exposing US military personnel to risk of field action.

Furthermore as recently as 2016 the RQ-4 Global Hawk drone provided real-time intelligence gathering over Germany, with respect to Russia violating airspace, as well as providing visuals of troop movement in Eastern Ukraine. This could be done traditionally but that would expose a pilot to the risk of being shot down or plane malfunction. One of the benefits of a drone malfunction mid air is no loss of life. At no other time in human history has man been able to project this form of power with little to no human life at risk- a veritable game changer moving forward.

For the absolute cynics out there who are unconcerned about the loss of human life one RQ-4 Global Hawk drone costs roughly 222 million US dollars now while an F-22 Raptor costs 339 million US dollars. Those figures include research and development costs but future costs still prove the RQ-4 Global Hawk drone cheaper than an F-22 Raptor costing 131 million USD to 139 million USD respectively. So yes, once again the drone program is more cost friendly than a manned plane and in case of emergency, or mechanical failure, no pilot is put at risk if the RQ-4 Global Hawk drone fails.

Since its inception, the United States Drone Program has protected the lives of countless US soldiers. Whether preventing high risk mission from occurring by allowing for an alternative to providing close air support in military engagements throughout Afghanistan and Iraq, the US drone program has been a force multiplier and a life saver. The mainstream media usually covers the drone program with respect to the loss of local civilian life- in the next series of articles I will try to tackle the positive aspects of the US drone program rarely mentioned.

“I think the use of drones is a good thing. They have added a dimension of capability to the United States that other nations don’t have. They also have the advantage of putting fewer American lives at risk.”- Donald Rumsfeld

Whether you share former Secretary Rumsfeld opinion or have a deep disdain for the way he led the Defense Department one aspect about Mr. Rumsfeld is true- wanted to lessen the risk of the common US solider. Under his tenure the US Drone program was rolled out beginning what would be current setting of today. Drone strikes are conducted on a monthly basis from Pakistan to Afghanistan: from Yemen to Syria; to bolster the strength of our allies in Iraq. All of these strikes serve three purposes. The first is to project power without projecting a standing force. The second is to limit the exposure of US military personnel in difficult to reach locations. The third is to achieve military goals traditionally associated with an infantry incursion, which would include infantry, artillery and air power. Amazingly, goals can be met without needing to expose troops to added risk by transferring high risk missions into the realm of US drone program missions.

Drones also provide a unique capability of providing real time intelligence concerning enemy troop movements without exposing forward observers. All throughout military history, that goes for the United States and other countries, if you wanted to know where your enemy was moving troops you would need to be deployed to achieve that end. Even with the development of satellites,  images can be inconclusive or worse provide inaccurate detail, forcing the military to still deploy troops with the aim of confirming the satellite image. This is no longer necessary thanks to the US drone program. Images can be gathered closer than ever before, through a multitude of imaging systems, allowing for those at base command to have a solid understanding of enemy troop movements without needing to deploy their men to shadow the enemy force. This “added dimension” has been of great use to the US military in terrorist hot zones like the Waziristan province of Pakistan. Twenty years ago, instead of using drones with the permission of the Pakistani government (their airspace), soldiers would have been needed to gather that intelligence. No matter what the force, no matter how well trained, no matter how well equipped asking 10 to 20 soldiers to conduct intelligence gathering 100 miles within unfriendly territory would be asking them to undertake a high risk mission with little success.