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Since the introduction of the battlefield radio in WWI coordinating artillery strikes to drone strikes on the modern battlefield, war has changed substantially over the past 100 years thanks to rapid military innovation. Air warfare has been utilized since the first planes were developed and, even though the amount of firepower they can deliver has changed, the use of airpower has remained constant through today. With the development of computers and their installation in the military, airstrikes have become incredibly accurate and deadly. In the world today, the United States utilizes computers and technology to coordinate troop movements, dial airstrikes, gather intelligence and a wide array of other things to gain an edge in war.
Drones are remotely controlled, unmanned aircraft that survey a target gathering information about a possible enemy target. The information collected by the drone is interpreted by military officials and then used to decide if the target should be destroyed by an airstrike or surgically by a ground team. More specifically, military drones which have been in use since the CIA introduced them in 2000 for strictly surveillance purposes but the military began to attach missiles to them after the September 11th attacks. The first drone strike used for a kill mission rather than a surveillance mission was February 2002 in an attempt to eliminate high-ranking Taliban members. None of this would be possible without computer involvement in the piloting of the drone, collecting information, analyzing video data and then using guided weapons to destroy an enemy target. Computers in the military have increased the quality of information collected, improved weaponry and are continuing to advance every aspect of military technology.
Sources:
- Photo sources are linked to the pictures themselves.
- “A Brief History of Drones” by John Sifton. The article is linked here.