Specifics and Actors of the Drone Warfare

Abstract

The article reveals the features of modern military conflicts waged with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones). Author traces the transformation of identity of fighters participating in high-tech wars. While the identity of combatants in conventional wars can be described with “killing- being killed” structure, post-heroic drone warfare leads to the formation of a split identity: on the one hand, a combatant reliably protected from mortal risks and threats, on the other hand, his defenseless victim. Author also studies the features of panoptic surveillance carried out with the drones. It is shown that modern war is entering the phase of unprecedented asymmetric confrontation, which cannot be overcome solely by technical means.