As Watling himself puts it: “Unhardened UAVs are disposable tools like munitions and get consumed very rapidly. You need them in your force and you need them to be cheap.”
For decades, Western armies have relied on a few expensive, ‘exquisite’ high-tech platforms, and that includes drones. This conflict of disposable drones may lead to a radical change in military procurement towards the many and the cheap.
This conflict has unique characteristics and will rewrite some “rules” for modern war.