In late August, leading defense experts convened at Cornell to address the future of drone warfare and its implications for NATO security. The workshop, titled “Full Spectrum Drone Warfare 2050: Developments in Drone Deployment Across All Domains,” was hosted by James Patton Rogers, Executive Director of Cornell’s Brooks School Tech Policy Institute and Dominika Kunertova, Senior Researcher at ETH Zurich’s Center for Security Studies. The event was part of a broader project, supported by a $65,000 grant from the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme, aimed at analyzing military drone technologies.

The project brings together experts to explore the evolving role of drones across land, air, and sea, as warfare enters what Patton Rogers calls the “Third Drone Age.” Their research seeks to provide NATO members and partners with insights into the development of drone and counter-drone capabilities, with a focus on mitigating the threats posed by the proliferation of drones to hostile actors.

This meeting aims to support NATO and its allies as drone warfare becomes an increasingly central threat, encouraging discussions that cross traditional boundaries to tackle these pressing issues.