Stephen Bryen’s Video Presentation to the Members and Friends of the Jewish Policy Center
Israel is a leader in UAV (drone) technology. The short war between Armenia and Azerbaijan last summer was a lesson in UAV capability on the battlefield, destroying Armenia’s battle tanks and other ground weapons, and virtually eliminating Armenia’s air defense systems. This has implications for modern warfare. Beyond that, drones can threaten targets far away. For example, a long range drone could hit the Pentagon, the US Capitol or other very high value targets.
Today the United States does not have much in the way of protection against long range drones. China, Russia and Iran are developing and fielding long range systems which, in a few years time, will be potentially a direct threat to the United States. But, unlike China and Russia, and to a lesser degree Iran, which have in-depth and layered air defenses and modern radars, the US has deployed very few systems for continental defense, these systems are not layered, and most of them are outdated.
An obvious defense priority that should get far more attention is developing and fielding counter-drone systems for the United States.
