Drone warfare poses UK Integrated Review problem

London is publishing its review of defence policy on Monday

A Ukrainian serviceman practises using a drone. Reuters

Experts say that drone warfare is the biggest problem for the authors of Britain’s forthcoming Integrated Review for defence.

Analysts at a Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) conference said that the prevalence of unmanned aerial systems in modern warfare was a major challenge.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered a Europe-wide rush for drones, with some militaries turning to manufacturers overseas for new models.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will make a statement on the revised report during his trip to the US on Monday, Downing Street said.

His predecessor last September ordered a new framework for foreign policy, defence, national security and international development after Ukraine war started.

Ulrike Franke, a senior policy fellow at think tank the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the war in Ukraine had led to a “reckoning” among international leaders and forced them to reassess and look for gaps in their militaries.

Stocktakes showed gaps where drones would be useful, she said.

“In terms of kamikaze drones or single-use drones, loitering munitions, you’ve got the Lithuanians, the Netherlands, the Britons, the Polish, the French, they are all buying these systems,” she said. “So there is definitely a move here.”

New developments, usages and applications for drone hardware means it is still classed as “an emerging capability” although it has been around for some time, she said.

“The first thing we are seeing in Ukraine, and people are taking note of this, is the sheer importance and prevalence of drones in the sky over Ukraine,” she said.

“This is something that we hadn’t necessarily predicted five or 10 years ago when we really started talking about drones.

“At the beginning, it was primarily a kind of narrative about drones being important for the global war on terror, very asymmetric wars rather than in conventional wars.”

A “huge range” of drones, from simple to sophisticated devices, are being used in Ukraine, she said, even while Kyiv and Moscow also use their respective air forces to hit targets.

Dr Franke said the “biggest wake-up call” Ukraine war has had in European capitals is the realisation that “we are lacking military industrial capability and a military industrial base”.

“This is true for pretty much any system completely,” she added, referring to ammunition, artillery and tanks.

The panel discussion also heard from Markus Schiller, founder of ST Analytics, a consulting firm specialising in space, rocket technology and high technology.

He stressed the need for interoperability when it comes to military systems.

“We will run into problems if everybody just buys off the shelf,” he said.

He said decision-makers need to co-ordinate “hand in hand, with common standards so that we really have something that is integrated”.

Under the current systems, he said, politicians decide what to buy and engineers and military leaders are often left with a problem if certain weaponry cannot be used.

Mr Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron signed several deals, including a pact on defence, at a Franco-British summit in Paris on Friday.

The pacts on migration, defence and energy were agreed to during the first summit of its kind in five years.

A deal aimed at stopping the flow of illegal migration to the UK from France will bring more drones into service for use in surveillance along the northern French coastline.

The UK agreed to pay £481 million ($581 million) for measures including increased beach patrols and a new detention centre.

Another deal aimed at strengthening co-operation on defence will involve the British and French militaries jointly training Ukrainian marines.

It also contained a commitment by both parties to work together on weapons development, including long-range missiles and air defence systems.

Another plan involves increased allied activity in the Indo-Pacific, with Downing Street saying it would include establishing France and the UK as the “backbone” to a permanent European maritime presence there.

The approach will include co-ordinating regular missions of France’s Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier and the UK’s HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales carriers.

During a joint press conference following one-on-one talks, Mr Sunak noted that France and the UK — both Nato members and the only European allies to be permanent members of the UN Security Council — are two of the world’s biggest defence powers.