The Syrian civil war has dragged on for over three years.
As the war has continued, fighting across the country has evolved from peaceful protests to an insurgency and on to a full-blown civil war.
Innovative and improvised technologies have been used by both rebels and the regime, as the war and weapon bans sap the traditional sources of supplies.
Both sides of the conflict have made use of the advanced technologies of today in different ways. From propaganda and intelligence to effective battlefield weaponry, the Syrian conflict has proved a testing ground for the effectiveness of various insurgent tactics.
One such technology co-opted by both sides of the civil war is the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), better known as the drone. Small drones have seen a scale of use unparalleled in previous low level conflicts, and their introduction into Syria show the profound and dangerous implications regarding the future use of such weapons of war.
The use of drones in warfare is not new. Within the last decade, the use of UAVs by the United States and its allies in the Middle East surged as a result of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
From the time the Central Intelligence Agency first tested an air-to-surface Hellfire missile on the MQ-1 Predator, drones have been integrated into the United States military’s tactical and operational calculations, from smaller intelligence gathering vehicles such as the RQ-7 Shadow and the RQ-11 Raven to the deadly Hellfire-equipped RQ-9 Reapers that patrol the skies over Yemen and Pakistan.
The United States has incorporated the use of drones extensively in active war zones. This is not, however, a uniquely American adaptation. US allies such as Israel and the United Kingdom have also incorporated the use of drones into their military planning, as have US geopolitical rivals such as Russia, China, and Iran.
But drone use has also spread beyond traditional foes. Increasingly, these unmanned vehicles are being utilized for surveillance by non-state actors looking for a cheaper alternative to traditional aerial intelligence, to perform a job similar to the US’s U-2 spy plane and spy satellites.
The rapid advances in technology over the past decade have created a growing market for these machines. A medium-sized commercial drone less than one meter by one meter, complete with a “Go-Pro” type camera — or even a more advanced video camera that can transmit a live video feed — can be obtained online for between $500 and $1500.
With these cheap and simple drones being readily available for use, it is no surprise that similar varieties have been introduced into the Syrian Civil War and been incorporated into operational and tactical planning by multiple groups.
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Extremist groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) maintain the ability to use reconnaissance drones militarily within Syria. Days prior to launching a large-scale offensive against Syrian government positions in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, activists reported drones over regime military installations, likely collecting intelligence on government positions as part of planning the offensive.
ISIS commanders continued to utilize their drones during the Deir Ezzor Offensive, with pro-regime sources reporting that government forces shot one down. ISIS has also employed surveillance drones in the besieged town of Kobani against Kurdish YPG forces.
The use of drones in Kobani served a dual purpose, both in collecting intelligence and in providing propaganda for the extremist group. ISIS used its drones to show off the group's advances from an aerial view.
ISIS is not the only anti-government force to employ drones in Syria. The Islamist rebel group Suquor al-Sham released a video of the group using a live feed to coordinate an operation, with the drone footage juxtaposed to a view from the ground to illustrate the group’s ability to combine armor, infantry movements, and aerial reconnaissance and targeting.
The Suquor al-Sham video gives greater insight into how drones in Syria are being used to bolster the decision-making process of commanders on the ground and are being incorporated into routine military operations.
The Syrian regime has also bolstered its fighting capabilities by using drones. As early as 2012, the regime used variants of Iranian-made military UAVs such as the Ghods Mohajer-4, Ababil-3 or the more advanced Shahed 129 to collect information and provide targeting data to both artillery and aircraft.
These drones, provided by Iran, are more advanced than the basic store-bought varieties used by rebel and insurgent groups. But they serve similar purposes. They have seen action in cities such as Damascus, Homs, and Aleppo, where the regime uses them in conjunction with other assets to target rebel positions.
The Syrian Civil War has witnessed the normalization of drone use on the battlefield by all sides. From pro-government forces to Islamist militant groups, the conflict should be considered the first to feature such widespread and even casual use of UAVs.
Fueled by the increasing popularity of these vehicles as recreational hobbies, the emerging market for commercial drones has allowed for the proliferation of relatively cheap yet highly effective types of these machines onto the battlefield.
The popularity of drones in Syria foreshadows what is likely to be a dramatic escalation in their deployment by both state and non-state actors in future conflicts across the globe.
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