This chapter explores the evolution of drone industries among major powers—specifically the United States, China, and Russia—and their implications for international security. It examines how UAV technologies have shaped military doctrines by enhancing surveillance, precision targeting, and strategic deterrence. Drawing on the offense–defense balance (ODB), the chapter analyzes how drones (mainly those that can be mass produced and be more affordably replaceable) can be affecting the strategic equilibrium toward the offense by lowering operational costs and enabling rapid, remote engagements. The United States’ integration of drones into network-centric warfare, China’s fusion of commercial and military innovation, and Russia’s wartime adaptation in Ukraine all illustrate divergent yet converging paths toward UAV centrality in modern conflict.

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Frontiers of the Drone Industry: Major Powers and the Evolution in Air Warfare

  • Mohammad Eslami,
  • Lauro Borges

摘要

This chapter explores the evolution of drone industries among major powers—specifically the United States, China, and Russia—and their implications for international security. It examines how UAV technologies have shaped military doctrines by enhancing surveillance, precision targeting, and strategic deterrence. Drawing on the offense–defense balance (ODB), the chapter analyzes how drones (mainly those that can be mass produced and be more affordably replaceable) can be affecting the strategic equilibrium toward the offense by lowering operational costs and enabling rapid, remote engagements. The United States’ integration of drones into network-centric warfare, China’s fusion of commercial and military innovation, and Russia’s wartime adaptation in Ukraine all illustrate divergent yet converging paths toward UAV centrality in modern conflict.