Sunday, 13 Oct, 2024
By: Yash Gupte
The United States of America killed Ayaman Al-Zawahiri in Kabul on August 2, 2022. Ayaman Al-Zawahiri was believed to be the key architect behind the 9/11 attack on USA in 2001. He was also the personal physician of the Al Qaeda leader Osama bin laden who was killed by the USA in 2011 in Abottabad, Pakistan.
The United States of America killed Ayaman Al-Zawahiri in Kabul on August 2, 2022. Ayaman Al-Zawahiri was believed to be the key architect behind the 9/11 attack on USA in 2001. He was also the personal physician of the Al Qaeda leader Osama bin laden who was killed by the USA in 2011 in Abottabad, Pakistan. The two leaders had issued a joint fatwa which declared that the judgment to fight and kill Americans and their allies, whether civilians or military is an obligation for every Muslim. The attacks on US and its facilities began shortly after the issue of fatwa with suicide bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. This was immediately followed by the 9/11 attacks on US. Ayaman Al-Zawahiri was killed in the same manner in which Laden and the Iraqi General Qaseem Soliemani were killed. All these individuals were killed by the US in targeted Drone strikes. Military drones are Unmanned Aerial Combat vehicles (UACVs) used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance and carries missiles and bombs for carrying out targeted drone strikes. UCAVs are used for both drone strikes and battlefield intelligence. The increased use of drones in counter-terrorism operations by countries like USA, Israel, Russia, Turkey and Iran questions the development of drone technology and capability of India. USA has been using drones for a long period of time and has some of the most advanced combat and surveillance drones in the world. The world has witnessed the power and military capability of drones on various occasions. Development and the number of drones are extremely important for India as it faces different threats by its neighbors on all fronts. Today, the drones are not only being used by the states actors but also by the non-state actors like the Houthi rebels who carried out a drone strike on the Saudi Aramco oil company in Saudi Arabia.
The chart below shows the number of drones possessed by different countries including India.
The above data shows that the USA leads the count of active combat drones with 334 while India and France has the lowest number of active combat drones (12). The global Combat UAV market is dominated by companies based in China, Israel and United States. Top five military UAV manufactures are Chinese CASC (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation) and American General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Boeing and the top importers of the combat drones are Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt and United Arab Emirates. The neighboring countries of India- Pakistan and China have a very high number of active combat drones. This can be a sizeable threat to India during any kind of confrontations and conflicts. India lacks far behind China with 151 combat drones and Pakistan with 98 combat drones. Though India is actively developing indigenous combat and surveillance drones under the scheme of Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-reliant India), it needs to keep in mind the threats posed by its neighbors with higher number of active combat drones.
