Thousands of drone strikes have killed tens of thousands of targets since the introduction of unmanned aerial vehicle warfare in the early 2000s. This is the story of that warfare.

It’s all free and it’s all here on Battlecast – the world’s foremost podcast on war and its sociopolitical impact. 

Download episode 93 here: download link

This is part two of an ongoing series. You can find part one here.

Extensive maps and images are posted to the historical atlas of drone warfare located here

Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio /// website: karlcasey.bandcamp.com

Mohsan, S.A.H. et al. (2023). “Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs): practical aspects, applications, open challenges, security issues, and future trends.” Intelligent Service Robotics 16:109–137.

Rehman, A. (2013). “Impact of drone attacks in Pakistan and the war on terror: A consideration of the effects of drone attacks in Pakistan and whether they are helping or not to win the war on terror!” International Relations 3. Malmö University: Department of Global Political Studies.

Fields, N.R. (2012). “Advantages and challenges of unmanned aerial vehicle autonomy in the Postheroic age.” [Unpublished Master’s Thesis]. James Madison University.

Blom, J. D. (2010). Unmanned aerial systems: A historical perspective. Combat Studies Institute Press. 

Amnesty International (2013). “Will I be next?: Us drone strikes in Pakistan.” 

Anderson, K. (2011). “Targeted killing and drone warfare: How we came to debate whether there is a ‘Legal Geography of War’.” Hoover Institution. 

Witt, S. (2022). “The Turkish drone that changed the nature of warfare.” The New Yorker. (May 9, 2022). https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/05/16/the-turkish-drone-that-changed-the-nature-of-warfare 

Turse, N. & Engelhardt, T. (2012). Terminator planet: The first history of drone warfare 2001 – 2050. Dispatch books.

Franke, U. (2018). The unmanned revolution: How drones are revolutionizing warfare. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Oxford. 

Sommerville, Quentin. (2024). “Ukraine thrown into war’s bleak future as drones open new battlefront.” BBC.com. Accessed July 24, 2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cne4vl9gy2wo 

Walsh, J.I. & Schulzke, M. (2018). Drones and support for the use of force. University of Michigan Press. 

Fisk, K & Ramos, J.M. (2016). Preventive force: Drones, targeted killing, and the transformation of contemporary warfare. New York University Press.

Gordon, N. (2016). Drones are changing our conception of warfare in Cunningham, A.C. (ed.). “Drones, surveillance, and targeted killings.”

Newman, K. (2018). How effective was the drone campaign in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia throughout Barack Obama’s presidency, 2009 – 2017? Unpublished Master’s Thesis. Canterbury Christ Church University. 

Zenko, M. (2017). Obama’s Final Drone Strike Data. Council on Foreign Relations. Web. https://www.cfr.org/blog/obamas-final-drone-strike-data 

Johnsen, G.D. (2014). “Nothing Says Sorry Our Drones Hit Your Wedding Party’ Like $800,000 And Some Guns. Buzz Feed.” Web. https://www.buzzfeed.com/gregorydjohnsen/wedding-party-drone-strike 

Kagg, J. and Kreps, S. (2014). Drone warfare. Polity press. 

Williams, B. (2013). Predators. Potomac books.

Scahill, J. (2016). The assassination complex. Simon and Schuster. 

Cooper, H. (2016). U.S. airstrikes at Somali site kill about 150. The New York Times. Section A, Page 1.

Cooper, H. (2017). Over 100 Shabab militants killed in U.S. airstrike in Somalia. The New York Times. Section A, page 11.

Olson, J. and Rashid, M. (2013). Modern drone warfare: An ethical analysis. 2013 ASEE Southeast Section Conference. 

Newcome, Laurence R. (2005).  Unmanned Aviation: A Brief History of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

Jordán, J. and Baqués, J.  (2014). Guerra de drones. Política, tecnología y cambio social en los nuevos conflictos.

McCurley, T and Maurer, K. (2015). Hunter killer: The true story of the drone mission that killed Anwar al-Awlaki.

Frontline. (2023). America and the Taliban: Part two. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQKERL9h7Yo&rco=1 

New America Foundation. (n.d.) “The war in Somalia.” https://www.newamerica.org/future-security/reports/americas-counterterrorism-wars/the-war-in-somalia/

Human Rights Watch. (2014). A wedding that became a funeral. http://www.hrw.org.

The Economist Data Team. (2015). Drone strikes: cause or effect. The Economist. https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2015/09/23/drone-strikes-cause-or-effect

Soliman, A.S.F. and Mahmoud, K.A. (2023). Applications des véhicules aériens sans pilote: Développement vers un poids de quelques grammes.