THE word “drone” refers to two distinct groups of vehicles. One looks like a large military plane, with straight wings; the other is the smaller vehicle with propellors. The former are the original, decades-old models of unmanned aircraft, and by no means novel.

Nowadays, GPS and long-distance wireless communications makes for straightforward drone operation. Military aircraft can be driven by pilots sitting in simulated cockpits, like in a video game. In fact, you can buy a drone simulation computer game yourself and play at home. 

One of the most prominent military drone manufacturers is General Atomics, producing an array of lethal machinery that is operated by different militaries all over the world. From zero in 2000, the US now has at least 300 of these “reapers.” Although they are still outnumbered by manned planes (5,000 in the US Air Force), the increase in military drones seems likely to continue its dramatic rise. 

On Monday Keir Starmer announced defence plans, including £2 billion to be spent on drones to make the army “10 times more lethal.” Drones are marketed by companies such as General Atomics as a “cheap” option for warfare, partly due to the lack of danger to those piloting the drones; a stark reminder that the lives of people employed to fly drones always outweigh those whom the drones are sent to kill, or in euphemistic military jargon, “strike.” Drones of this sort are not exclusively used to kill directly. They also patrol borders and collect surveillance on besieged populations, like the people in Gaza. The line between surveillance and terrorism is blurred: the Pavlovian terror instilled by these drones is a major part of their use. 

In contrast, the smaller propellor drones seem more innocuous, more akin to remote-controlled helicopters. These drones have multiple rotors — most commonly they are quadcopters —  and take off vertically, without the the kilometre of runway the other drones need. Even compared to traditional helicopter design, these rotors are not energy efficient, but they are simple and allow for lots of different movements. 

Though originally the preserve of hobbyists, these kinds of drones are increasingly forming part of professional toolkits — inspection of roofs and roaming CCTV being prominent uses. Although drones’ use in everyday life, their capacities and power are growing dramatically, the legislation around drone use is unusual.

Unlike cars, there are fewer requirements on drone manufacturers to guarantee quality and take responsibility for faults. Regulation of drone pilots makes the pilot responsible for errors and damage, even if it was a mechanical fault. Given how unknowable faults are, regulation therefore treats them as if they might fail and fall from the sky at any minute, which actually, they might. 

This is part of the reason that drone-delivery hasn’t taken off, despite years of promises about the future of delivery by drone courier. In Britain, and in much of the world, it is illegal to fly drones over 250g over people, in case they fall. That makes navigating for delivery in densely populated areas impossible. It’s also illegal to fly drones out of the operator’s line of sight because there is no guarantee that their position, orientation and sensing systems will allow them to avoid smashing into other things.

As the use of drones becomes more widespread, we should expect to see lobbying for these regulations to be relaxed. In Ireland, there is already a small patch of Dublin where you can order fast food to be delivered by drone. Drone development continues at an ever-increasing rate, in particular working through glitches and vulnerabilities in the control and communications of drone payloads. Particular focus on drone research is maintaining communication and positioning under malfunction or attack from GPS jammers, to which AI is seen as a solution. Israel is a major drone manufacturer, but the European defence budget is also spent on developing military drones. Although the European Research Council doesn’t fund defence research, in 2024 they were funding 152 projects on drone R&D in universities.

The drone market worldwide is dominated by Chinese giant DJI, which has 70 per cent of the global “commercial” drone market. Its quadcopters can be extremely powerful, and are developed for carrying heavy loads, like large quantities of seeds and pesticides for farming, or extensive surveillance and communication systems. DJI also has a large contract with Chinese domestic police services. 

These quadcopters are also ideal for warfare like the older unmanned aircraft. They too can carry and deploy explosives, as well as be used for surveillance and terrorising civilians. While military spending from Israel funnelled directly to US and European countries like Britain is in the hundreds of millions per year, the military budget transferred to China is reported as only $3 million. But this doesn’t include the money spent on “commercial drones” — officially not weapons, but in reality easily refitted to be military machines.

DJI brands itself as anti-military, and after complaints officially stopped arming both Russian and Ukrainian militaries. But it’s been reported that unofficially the same drones are still fighting the war, with 100,000 new drones acquired since last autumn, according to US military analyst Sam Bendett. In Gaza, it is clear from civilian reports, as well as Al Jazeera’s Sanad investigation, that DJI drones are being used as a primary weapon of war. Reports from civilians paint a picture of a region flooded with drones, where people are constantly under threat of personal surveillance and targeting, as the DJI drones are very easy to retrofit with weapons. China is Israel’s second-largest trade partner after the US, and the DJI drones used in the assault on Gaza are part of that trade. 

In April the British government suspended some arms exports licences to Israel to avoid British arms likely use to “facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.” However, the Campaign Against Arms Trade report that loopholes have not been closed, meaning parts are still exported. In particular, the Dorset-based company RCV Engines continue to supply the main engines for an Israel-produced fighter quadcopter. 

Drones are a spectacular example of the bleeding edge of technological advancement, in which commercial and military uses are almost indistinguishable. The lack of distinction in the word drone has made way for a lack of distinction in the function, design and trade of drones themselves. Countries which permit the sale of drones to Israel, whether those drones are classed as “military” or not, are complicit in its genocide.