How Drones Fight: How Small Drones are Revolutionizing Warfare

How Drones Fight: How Small Drones are Revolutionizing Warfare by Lars Celander. Casemate Publishers, 2024, 208 pp.

Lars Celander provides a concise introduction on the modern military use of unmanned “drone” aircraft in How Drones Fight. He describes the rapid development of drones and argues it is a disruptive new technology revolutionizing warfare. Celander—who served in the Swedish military as a systems engineer and as a design engineer in radar and radio communications after his military service—brings key insights from his own technical background and long-term interest in military technology. He uses this foundation to distill the complex technological systems involved and introduce them in a straightforward way.

Celander supports the overall premise that drones are changing the modern battlefield. His main purpose, though, is not to prove this thesis directly, but simply to increase the reader’s understanding of how drone technology has developed and what new capabilities they provide: “The book is only about how things actually work, offering no recommendations on policy, acquisition, training, or organizational matters, suitable conclusions are left to the reader” (ix). Especially with respect to small tactical drones, he emphasizes their employment is something new that those interested in warfare need to better understand and appreciate.

He is not alone in his assessment. Former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and former Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt echoed similar concerns in mid-2024 when referencing Russia’s war in Ukraine, where “the future of war is quickly becoming its present.” They stated, “Thousands of drones fill the skies . . . [and] thanks to these systems, Ukrainian soldiers are taking out tanks and downing planes with devastating effectiveness.”¹ In How Drones Fight, Celander takes a neutral stance, accurately noting that the tools of war have changed rather than trying to prove that the nature or character of war is substantially different.

Celander uses a combination of technological descriptions and recent historical case studies to illustrate drone technology, emphasizing that he is writing for an audience who knows nothing or very little about the topic. US military personnel, depending on their level of expertise in this area, may find the information a bit elementary at times. To be fair, this book is not written as a technical document or standard operating procedure for military forces but rather as a basic primer for the general public or any interested person. Therefore, the evidence and technical data are at the right level of depth for most readers.

Celander uses a variety of sources throughout the book, incorporating his own experience with engineering and scientific texts, product brochures, and open-source website data. As he notes, open-source internet information is not entirely accurate and readers should “take it with a grain of salt” (8). The book incorporates mostly secondary and tertiary research, and some of the specifications or details may be questionable. Along with academic sources from organizations including the NATO Science and Technology Organization, the British Royal United Services Institute, and the Swedish Defense Research Agency, less reliable but insightful firsthand experience from social media sites, and some personal contacts with “frontline drone operators” who are using drones in battle are all employed in an interesting way (176). Despite the questionable accuracy of social media, it does provide an element of battlefield experience not otherwise available to the public. In all, Celander’s use of diverse sources proves sufficient for the introductory intent of his book.

In the first half of the book, Celander provides a background on the systems and subsystems that relate to the broad topic of military drones. He demonstrates how these drones are being used creatively and cost effectively in a military setting and why that is important. For example, he introduces the idea of shortening the “kill chain” with direct support to ground forces (xv). Spotting for artillery is a mission area that has real utility and is representative of how drones are being employed in combat today. Celander then describes how drone detection capabilities and counter-drone technologies are also advancing in parallel. In his view, jamming is perhaps the most effective counter-drone technology available since it targets navigation and communication vulnerabilities. Yet he notes that the size and maneuverability of small tactical drones make it difficult to defend against them. He highlights the fact that their low cost and their replacement of humans in a physical cockpit make them more expendable and able to be employed in greater quantities than traditional aircraft. Overall, he demonstrates that drones are indeed a central element to battlefield operations and countries or forces who do not incorporate them are already at a disadvantage. 

The second half of the book digs into the recent historical use and development of drones. It begins with the United States’ Global War on Terrorism as the first widespread use of unmanned aircraft in general. It also mentions their recent appearance in Armenia and Azerbaijan, where small tactical drones effectively provided intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support for Azerbaijan ground maneuvers. This added battlefield situational awareness contributed to the eventual defeat and withdrawal of Armenian forces from the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region. The book then turns to the most recent case of drone use in Ukraine, highlighting the equipment utilized by both sides of the conflict. Ukrainians and Russians have both employed drones successfully to limit freedom of movement, provide intelligence, and conduct direct strike attacks. Celander’s historical and current case examples thus demonstrate how drones are now routinely employed as a cost-effective alternative to traditional expensive and complex manned aircraft.

As he concludes the book, Celander sets the stage for future technological developments by highlighting advancements in endurance, speed, weapons, and especially artificial intelligence (AI). The latter aspect warrants greater exploration and perhaps would serve as a good topic for a future book as this will be of increasing interest to military practitioners. Additionally, although he touches on the topic, he does not fully explore how large militaries such as the United States or the United Kingdom have incorporated small tactical drones within their ground forces and how they are reorganizing infantry battalions with small-unmanned aircraft systems in their infantry companies and scout platoons.²

Celander does conclude that drones will impact the principles of war, which are defined by US military doctrine as objective, offensive, mass, maneuver, economy of force, unity of command, security, surprise, and simplicity.³ He emphasizes simplicity as a particularly unique aspect of drones. That is, drones are not just in the hands of advanced national militaries and highly trained air force pilots, but now any soldier or combatant could find themselves in a position to operate or defend against drones.

Overall, the book was an easy and informative read. The author’s reluctance to draw specific conclusions leaves the reader a bit unsatisfied, but the reader does take away a deeper understanding of what drones are and how they have become an integral part of modern warfare. While How Drones Fight stops short of addressing whether the character of warfare is fundamentally different, it is clear that drones or unmanned aircraft will be ever-present on the battlefield. Military practitioners will therefore find value in reading about these types of systems and capabilities. As a technical overview of this developing and rapidly proliferating technology, How Drones Fight is worth the read and hits the mark.

Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin F. Schumacher, USAF