COLLINS: Changes in warfare tactics mean more deaths
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THE FACE OF WAR BECOMES MORE GROTESQUE every day. Fancier and more powerful and accurate guns can hone in on targets many kilometers away and wreak a lot of damage. But their cost helps keep things in check. Countries can only use so many shells before the expense, cost of production and availability of raw material becomes prohibitive.
The website technology.org says the cost of the most popular type of artillery shell used today costs somewhere around $100,000 US. The same site says the Russians let loose about 20,000 of these shells every single day. Ukraine, on the other hand, lets loose between 4,000 and 7,000 of these beauties. If you put the figures together, the cost is high — so big I can’t even put the number into words.
But now, there is a huge increase in the use of drones. Small, light, sneaky, they’ve been getting better and better. But now technology is actually going backward. A cheap drone can be had for $1,000. For the cost of one artillery shell, you can send tens of thousands of drones. And if a number don’t make it, a number will. And because they are so much cheaper, virtually anyone, from small terrorist groups to drug cartels — you name the group — they’ll be able to buy the gear. At a glance, you can see how this changes everything on the battle front. Launch sites are mobile and can be moved quickly. A few well-trained pilots can do the job sitting in relative comfort and safety.
A lot of the research these days in the military establishment now has to include the use of drones, how to use them and how to defend against them. They are going to be around for a while and they will cost a lot of lives. Weapons that are cheaper to come by will extend wars and vastly increase the number of fatalities. That does not bode well for the future.
