On June 1, Ukraine launched over 150 drones from inside Russian territory, striking four Russian airbases in an operation dubbed Operation Spiderweb. At least two high-valued Russian A-50U airborne early warning aircraft, 13 strategic bombers, and several other aircraft were destroyed, inflicting $7 billion worth of damage. This operation revealed a doctrinal shift with far-reaching implications that goes well beyond Eastern Europe and into the very core of military thought worldwide.
Geography, altitude, and deterrence traditionally shielded airborne command-and-surveillance platforms. They symbolized strategic extension and real-time battlefield awareness. However, the fact that such an asset can be destroyed successfully using relatively cheap, unmanned systems questions the entire assumption on which these platforms were designed. The stark difference between cost and effect is the key to this transformation.
This change does not occur in isolation. Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) successful drone strikes against India during Operation Zarb-e-Karrar thwarted aggressive Indian military ambitions. The PAF demonstrated its ability to respond to new realities of aerial warfare by integrating drone warfare with intelligence gathering, surveillance, and top-notch human command and control. With Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu at the helm, the PAF is set to redefine its defense stance and innovate ahead of a larger adversary
Drones are rewriting the mathematics of power projection. Outcomes once reliant on coordinated airstrikes and multi-layered assets can now be achieved with autonomous drones, off-the-shelf components, and decentralized networks. In an era where a million-dollar aircraft can be neutralized by a device priced in the thousands, strategic calculus must evolve. One question that must be raised is how much human intelligence went into the Operation Spiderweb? It is hard to imagine. Flight schedules, fuel logistics, and radar blind spots cannot be known to drones without human input. It is naive to attribute all credit to unmanned systems and ignore the meticulous sabotage logic that has been historically used in covert military operations.
The availability of drone technology and growing precision of strike capability risks diluting the barrier between great powers and less resourceful actors. Modern airpower weapons are less costly, smaller, and commonly improvised, but no less effective. The contemporary drone battlefield also erases the distinction between regular and irregular warfare. Aerial attacks may now be initiated anonymously, remotely, or even from third-party territories. This has a broad relevance, especially in contested airspaces where historical rivalries have shaped defense postures.
Unmanned warfare also provides plausible deniability and a higher threshold of public tolerance. This has political utility since states can now project force with impunity from the political costs that are usually borne by troops. Though this would seem to diminish the risk of armed conflict, it also renders it more conceivable. The same qualities that make drone warfare appealing— low cost, low risk, and low visibility— may also lower the threshold for using it, exposing the world to a more volatile strategic environment.
This new model presents both a challenge and an opportunity to countries that prioritize strategic autonomy and credible deterrence but do not want to overstretch defense budgets. Institutional innovation is required to move to distributed, resilient, and smart aerial capabilities. Instead of overreliance on legacy platforms, the focus should be shifted to integrated sensor networks, electronic warfare resilience, and tactical autonomy. Still, even the most autonomous systems rely on human command, context, and interpretation.
However, even the smartest drone systems must rely on human context, target verification, and doctrinal clarity. It also requires definition of doctrine: at what point does a drone attack constitute an act of war? Who is to be held responsible when authorship lines are intentionally crossed? These questions are not restricted to one conflict or theater. This is a new age where the size of the fleet or the range of the flight is not the only measure of air dominance; survivability, adaptability, and control of information are crucial aspects. Actors with complex threat environments have to start thinking of airpower as a layered concept, one that embraces agility over prestige and innovation over inertia.
This change does not occur in isolation. Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) successful drone strikes against India during Operation Zarb-e-Karrar thwarted aggressive Indian military ambitions. The PAF demonstrated its ability to respond to new realities of aerial warfare by integrating drone warfare with intelligence gathering, surveillance, and top-notch human command and control. With Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu at the helm, the PAF is set to redefine its defense stance and innovate ahead of a larger adversary.
Imama Khan is a Research Assistant at the Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies (CASS), Lahore. She can be reached at [email protected].
By: Imama Khan
