The development could be significant for the future of drone warfare. Unmanned aerial vehicles are taking on larger roles in anti-U.S. planning by Iran and other belligerents. The U.S. military routinely launches spy drones over the Persian Gulf as well as over Iraq and Syria.
Iran has tested and deployed suicide drones that it says can be launched against U.S. ships, which are targets of harassment by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ navy.
Gen. Joseph Votel, who heads U.S. Central Command and oversees Persian Gulf operations, said UAVs are among several weapons Iran deploys to try to menace shipping.
“The way they affect us is they provide Iran with a layered capability where they can use their fast boats, they can use cruise missiles, they can use radars, they can use UAVs to potentially dominate specific areas,” Gen. Votel told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.
In Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State has become more proficient in reconfiguring off-the-shelf drones to spy on and attack U.S.-backed coalition forces. The Islamic State, known as ISIL, ISIS and Daesh, has affixed small bombs and accurately dropped them onto people and vehicles in and around Mosul, Iraq, according to its propaganda videos.
Source: / washingtontimes /