The Yemen Houthi rebels, who are associated with Iran, claimed responsibility for an attack on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday, after authorities in the Gulf state reported two fires in Abu Dhabi, presumably caused by drones. Three fuel tanker trucks exploded in the industrial Musaffah region near ADNOC storage facilities, according to Abu Dhabi police, while a fire broke out at an Abu Dhabi International Airport construction site. The incident killed three people – two Indian and one Pakistani national – and wounded several others.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones, which can be used to help with logistics and mapping, are now being programmed to destroy anything remotely. Advancements in video-camera techniques, precision operations with enhanced GPS, stealth operations, and faster speed are what make drones lethal and effective for combat. It also raises concerns about how these drones are used for military operations and are evolving into next-generation war weapons around the world.
Drones are the future of warfare: Major General (retd) GD Bakshi
While speaking to Republic Media Network on the Abu Dhabi airport attack, Major General (retd) GD Bakshi, a drone expert, said that UAVs are the future of warfare. He informed that Armenia won the fight with Azerbaijan simply by employing drones in large numbers and that Pakistan has received a large number of drones from China. These hexacopters and quadcopters have been regularly providing weaponry, ammunition, and military grenade explosives like RDX, Maj. Gen. Bakshi informed.
“The future of warfare is drone. In the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Armenia won simply by using drones in mass. Israeli drones, Turkish drones, Chinese drones. Now China has supplied drones in mass to Pakistan. For the last two years, these hexacopters and quadcopters have been regularly supplying arms, ammunition, they have been dropping military grenade explosives like RDX, which have been used in Ludhiana and now it was defused in Delhi very luckily. There were some coming across from the border of Attari also, some had reached J&K. There were 70 drone sightings last year. They have attacked our air base,” Maj. Gen. GD Bakshi said.
‘Abu Dhabi Drone Attack was carefully planned’: Drone expert
Sunny Sharma, also a drone expert, said that the Abu Dhabi airport attack was meticulously planned. He explained that the attackers may have known the exact GPS coordinates of where those trucks were parked. Sharma stated that drones have become a new normal, citing a September 2019 attack on Saudi Arabia’s crude oil output in which 18 low-cost drones (along with cruise missiles), allegedly deployed by Houthi rebels, blew up the facilities.
“Well, if it is a drone attack it is very carefully planned. They carefully targeted the oil tanker because the oil tanker needed some amount of initial fire as they were already filled up with enough fuel to create an impact. So, if it was a drone attack, I think it was very carefully planned. I think it was piloted to specifically align the drop or attack or they had the exact GPS coordinates where those tankers were parked,” Sharma told Republic Media Network.
“In fact, in 2019, Houthi rebels used a similar method to attack the senior commanders, and they killed almost 6 people. So, I think Drone has become the new normal. It is poor man’s or it needs very less technical knowledge. It is easily accessible and can be brutally weaponised,” he added.