drones are probably the boss level of asymmetrical warfare ever seen
cheap to make - if you care to do so -- to stop them your enemy has to deploy expensive anti-missile tech -- thereby in a war of attrition the person who quickly churns out drones wins.
drones can also destroy -- more expensive sites like oil plants, factories etc that cost XXX more than the drones
and the person who flies the drone if not automated -- can be safe somewhere
That was years ago. Today's armies have plenty of cheap anti-air weapons deployed everywhere, and they manage to intercept the vast majority of long-distance drones cost-effectively.
The Gulf War era world, where a small professional force using expensive high-tech gadgets could win a war without the enemy being able to fight back, is gone. Today you still need the small high-tech force to win, but you also need a larger cost-effective force for defense.
Didn't we just see something like 15% of Russia's nuclear bombers wiped out from a drone attack last year?
A guy got close enough to shoot at and almost kill a Presidential candidate during the last election -- imagine how different things would have been if he had just used something like this[0] instead.
The first time someone attacks an outdoor music festival with drone strikes like that asshole who shot up that concert in Vegas is going to change society for the worse. :-/
That particular attack against Russian bombers was done by undercover saboteurs working deep inside enemy territory. The drones being discussed here are essentially cheap cruise missiles. For example, you have a ~200 kg drone carrying a ~50 kg warhead that is launched using a rocket booster and capable of flying 1000+ km. In Ukraine and Russia, 80-90% of such drones are routinely intercepted by cost-effective air defenses.
>Today's armies ... manage to intercept the vast majority of long-distance drones cost-effectively.
Army singular. There is one army on the planed doing that right now and trump hates its leader thus didnt even ask for help with eventual drone defense.
cheap to make - if you care to do so -- to stop them your enemy has to deploy expensive anti-missile tech -- thereby in a war of attrition the person who quickly churns out drones wins.
drones can also destroy -- more expensive sites like oil plants, factories etc that cost XXX more than the drones
and the person who flies the drone if not automated -- can be safe somewhere