by James Corbett Do you wanna see the scariest sight in the world? No, I'm not talking about terrorists or ninjas (or terrorist ninjas). I'm not talking about ghosts and goblins. I'm not even talking about Winnie the Pooh and Popeye. I'm talking about this:  For those not in the know, that is a drone show put on by the Chicoms to mark the beginning of the Dragon Boat Festival in Shenzhen in June 2023. And your reaction to that scene says more about you than you may realize. If you just had a shiver down your spine and you can taste that tang of existential dread in the back of your throat, then congratulations! You have your head screwed on straight. But if you thought "oh, how pretty!" then it seems you are nowhere near prepared for what is coming. Either way, you need to read about the coming drone wars and what they mean for the future of humanity. THE TECHBy this point, we all know about Spot, the cute, dancing "agile mobile robot" from Boston Dynamics.  And we've all witnessed Atlas—the slightly menacing, backflipping, bipedal "dynamic humanoid robot" (also from Boston Dynamics)—doing its gymnastics routine.  And we've all been filled with joy at the site of ONYX's amphibious-capable Ghost Robotics V60 robotic dog paddling around in the water.  And we've all marvelled at Unitree Go2, the LiDAR-equipped 30-pound robot dog that can be yours for the low, low price of $1,600!  But these robots by themselves are not the future of warfare. To be sure, they certainly can be used as tools of warfare. Witness "Spot's Rampage" for a demonstration of what that would look like, or witness real-life robot takedowns of suspected criminals to know where this technology is going. But robots are not going to be a mainstay of warfare in the near future. At least for now, these robots are too big, slow, clumsy and unwieldy—not to mention battery-dependent—to pose a sci-fi-style robot apocalypse danger. The real threat is something altogether less intimidating. The humble drone swarm. Yes, that fun technology that makes those spectacular dragon-in-the-skies formations possible is (surprise, surprise!) being weaponized by the military-industrial complex as we speak. WHO'S AFRAID OF A LITTLE DRONE?
The utility of drones for making mischief is hardly breaking news. For years, criminals have been taking advantage of the relative stealth and maneuverability of drones to do everything from harassing people on the street to smuggling drugs across the border. This very real problem is then used as a justification for a power grab by law enforcement, who argue that they not only require new legislation but a drone army of their own to adequately deal with the threat. And thus we have a problem-reaction-solution situation, where drone crimes lead to the empowerment of the police state. Even more worryingly, the same tactic is being used by militaries the world over to justify their development of literal drone armies. Observe: The problem: Unidentified Drone Swarm over US Military Base Sparks Alarm. The reaction: The US Navy wants swarms of thousands of small drones. The solution: Anduril Is Building Out the Pentagon’s Dream of Deadly Drone Swarms. And—wouldn't you know it?—it just so happens that Anduril is run by Thielverse minion (and proud Trump bootlicker) Palmer Luckey and is looking forward to a boon in business now that Thielverse minion J. D. Vance is in the VP office! It looks like military drone tech is in for a good four years. In fact, military drone technology is a mini-industry unto itself at the moment, being touted by the Modern War Institute at West Point and hyped by Forbes and pimped by yahoo!finance. And that's just the American side of the equation. Naturally, the Chicoms are prepping their drone swarms for the next Great War. As for the Russians, they're not only under Ukrainian drone attack but are developing and unleashing drone swarms of their own to wreak havoc on Ukraine's energy grid. And if there's a deadly new technology that makes the wholesale slaughter of civilians a little easier, you better believe Israel is deploying it against the Palestinians (and the Lebanese). Heck, even Azerbaijan is in on the act, deploying Turkish-made TB2 drones (bearing Israeli-made ammunition) in their 2021 battle with the Armenians over Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev went so far as to credit the drones with destroying more than $1 billion worth of Armenian equipment during the conflict. No, the drone wars of the future are not some sci-fi fantasy. They are very real, and they are happening right now. THE FUTURE OF WARFARE
Again, the specter of thousands of mechanized death drones filling the skies during the next major war is not some far-off, hypothetical threat. Country after country is already developing military drone swarms. But, as crazy as things are—and as crazy as they're about to get with yet more "mystery drone swarm" stories being hyped up in the establishment media—we haven't seen anything yet. I've said it before, but it bears repeating: WWIII will look NOTHING like previous warfare. To begin wrapping your head around the concept of what future warfare will look like, you'll want to check out my podcast on 5th-Generation Warfare.
Once you are up to speed on the 5th-generation war on everyone, you'll understand that warfare is no longer about armies squaring off to shoot it out over a barren battlefield. Gone are the days when onlookers could enjoy a picnic while overlooking the battle, much to the chagrin of those hoping for some Robot Jox-style future where wars are decided by gladiatorial contests between giant, human-piloted robots. So, what might drone warfare of the future actually look like? You don't need to be a visionary to see how a drone swarm could be used to change the nature of warfare overnight, but in case you truly lack an imagination, here it is in video form:  In short, the public's inability to imagine such a scenario leaves them open to the most effective form of psychological manipulation: terrorism. I don't mean the 9/11-style Al CIA-da terrorism that kickstarted the 21st century, although that's always an option on the table. It should be noted, after all, that the moderate, "diversity-friendly" rebels in Syria (aka the child-beheading I-CIA-SIS scum backed by NATO, Turkey, the US and Israel) were using drone swarms to attack Russian forces as far back as 2018. No, I'm not talking about those terrorists. I'm talking about the real terrorists in positions of power in Washington and London and Tel Aviv and Brussels, the ones who use their media mockingbirds to amplify their terror campaigns and keep the public afraid. For them, a Slaughterbots scenario could be the spectacular event they need to launch the next phase of their "war of terror" agenda and win the next fight in their 5th generation war on everyone. So what do we do about this threat? I think there is not one answer to this question, but many. For my American readers, the 2nd Amendment is a wonderful thing, and the ability to own and wield firearms as an explicit defense against government overreach should not be taken for granted. But, while ghostguns and 3D-printed guns are great ways of insuring those 2nd Amendment rights against any would-be gun grabbers in political office, the future of drone warfare renders conventional firearms insufficient for the purpose of protecting one's family from government forces. What is the answer, then? Employing drone tech of our own to defend against the military drones? Developing drone defense tech for jamming or otherwise hindering government drone technology? Such moves are doubtless necessary, but a simple escalation of the drone war on the personal level won't fundamentally solve the problem that this incredibly powerful and destructive technology creates. I won't pretend to solve the problem of drone warfare in an article like this, but there's one thing I do know: if we aren't thinking about these matters, we're going to be caught completely off guard when the next war arrives at our doorstep . . . or hovers a few feet over our heads. Like this type of essay? Then you’ll love The Corbett Report Subscriber newsletter, which contains my weekly editorial as well as recommended reading, viewing and listening. If you’re a Corbett Report member, you can sign in to corbettreport.com and read the newsletter today. Not a member yet? Sign up today to access the newsletter and support this work. You're currently a free subscriber to The Corbett Report. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
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