A History of Drones and Precision Warfare

Since 2012, the global proliferation of drones has increased by 96.3 percent. Inspired by the American pioneering of ‘pin-point’ precision strike and remote-control technologies during the early 2000s and 2010s, a total of 118 nation-states have now developed a military drone program (2024). These drones are transforming the character of war around the globe, from Ukraine to Yemen and most notably with the Houthis over the Red Sea. Yet, how did drones and precision technologies rise up to become the ‘go-to’ weapons of nation-states and increasingly violent non-state actors?

In this talk, James Patton Rogers (Executive Director of the Cornell Brooks Tech Policy Institute, Cornell University), will take us back to 1917 and the origins of this quest for ‘precision’ in war within American strategic thought. Along the way, he will outline how precision developed throughout the 20th Century and highlight what the contemporary proliferation of precision weapons and drones means for the future of international security.

About the Speaker
James Patton Rogers is the Executive Director of the Cornell Brooks Tech Policy Institute at Cornell University and the NATO Country Director of the Full Spectrum Drone Warfare project, supported by NATO SPS. An expert on drones, disruptive technologies, and the history of weaponry and strategy, James has worked with the UN Security Council, UNOCT, and UNCTC (amongst others). He is the author of ‘Precision: A History of American Warfare’ (Manchester, 2023).

Host
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies