Introduction
Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or with more common usage, combat drones1 are now the primary advanced technology used by states and increasingly non-state actors in combat zones. For example, in 2000, 17 countries’ arsenals had drones, the number surpassed 100 countries in 2019, and the number of countries that actively use military drones increased by 58 percent in the past decade.2 Drones are actively used in battle zones in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Libya. While the proliferation of drones increases the states’ capacity to counter terrorist attacks and prevent them, it also threatens regional and global stability and security. Indeed, the second Karabakh War between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno Karabakh region that occurred between September and November of 2020 showed how drones can change the military balance and increase the military capacity of states that possess this technology.
