Quality over quantity: Unified systems are future of drones – opinion

The military drone market's rapid growth has led to a misconception that more unmanned platforms equate to greater operational power. Instead of focusing on quantity, future drone procurement should prioritize a smaller number of complete, reliable, and connected systems that can operate at scale. The article outlines five essential advantages such systems must deliver:

• Operational independence: Drones must have secure, independent supply chains for all components and software to ensure continuity during conflicts.
• Intelligence system security: Cybersecurity must be integrated from the outset to protect sensitive data and the operating force.
• Connectivity as a force multiplier: Drones should seamlessly share information with command-and-control systems and other networks, rather than operating in isolation.
• Mission availability: The true performance metric is the system's ability to provide continuous, reliable intelligence for the duration of a mission, not just flight time or camera resolution.
• Resilience under disruption: Systems must be tested and proven to perform reliably under electronic warfare conditions, including jammed communications and degraded GNSS signals.

Israel, with its operational experience and technological infrastructure, is positioned to lead in developing such a comprehensive, sovereign, secure, modular, resilient, and scalable unmanned system.