Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, commonly referred to as “drones,” (also known as RPAs or UCAVs)  have become an increasingly popular tool of U.S. foreign policy over the past decade. Since 2004, the U.S. has launched more than 400 covert drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. This affinity for drones is not confined to the American political elite. The U.S. public is highly supportive of their use overseas too, with nearly three-quarters of those polled in favor of UAVs to target suspected terrorists abroad. This is no doubt in part due to the widespread perception of drones as a “costless” means of waging war that reduce risks to US soldiers’ lives while still enabling the U.S. to achieve its foreign policy objectives overseas.

Their increased popularity has spurned a lively debate as to the merits of unmanned weaponry. Are they effective at achieving strategic goals? Scholars find mixed results. Interestingly, despite this flurry of attention, the discussion has tended to take place absent any clear distinction between the capabilities of these weapons versus other, manned options.  This is an important omission. In some places the future of air capabilities is depicted as one without manned platforms, relying solely upon unmanned air assets. Knowledge of the capabilities of these different weapons systems, and understanding which situations these weapons are better suited for, is part and parcel of assessing their battlefield effectiveness. When are drones the most effective choice of weaponry given a mission’s objectives? When might manned options be the better choice? This analysis lays out the advantages and disadvantages of current manned and unmanned kinetic weaponry on the battlefield in the hope that we can better understand the ground truth about unmanned effectiveness.

The Manned Advantage: When Having Pilots in the Seat Still Counts

Wide-ranging Spectrum of Options: The most obvious advantage of manned over unmanned on the battlefield is the wide selection of platforms available.  From the AC-130 to the Apache to the B-52, manned aircraft offer a vast array of capabilities for a wide range of air to ground missions.  This is in contrast to the current unmanned inventory, which boasts only three aircraft operationally capable of carrying bombs or missiles.  In general, because of the broader spectrum of options available, manned aircraft are able to carry more munitio