Why Do we need them?
The US should continue to use drone strikes abroad. Drone strikes have stopped more than 50 terrorist plots since 2001. If the plots were not stopped by our drones, thousands of Americans could potentially have died. With new threats like ISIS, we need to be able to use drone strikes now more than ever. Unfortunately, when doing this there can be collateral damage. Over 500 lives have been lost due to collateral damage ever since the war on terrorism. But, the lives saved by our drone attacks could be in the thousands.
Economics
Drones are much more cost effective than your traditional fighter jet. The F-22 (fighter jet) costs 185 million per unit, an MQ-9 Reaper (commonly used UAV/Drone) cost 25 million per unit. The annual cost for an F-22 is 11 thousand dollars, while the annual cost or an MQ-9 Reaper is about three thousand dollars. Finally, an MQ-9 Reaper costs 3.25 dollars per flight hour, while an F-22 costs 11.26 dollars per flight hour. This cost effectiveness is very key to our military, and it can help our military spending plummet rapidly.
Human Risk
Each year many hundreds of American fighter pilots die due to crashes and midair collisions. Drones can take the human risk factor out of harm’s way by being unmanned while flying. These drones can be flown from an operator sitting in a building miles away from the drone. The amount of US Air Force pilots is dwindling away, and these drones can keep pilots from being exposed to potentially dangerous situations.
The Nature of War
Unfortunately, the nature of war is absolutely cruel, and destructive. In WWII, over a million civilians were killed, and there were around 335,000 killed in Japanese airstrikes alone. Collateral damage of US drone strikes aren’t nearly as high as it was in WWII, and we’ve been in a war on terrorism more than twice as long as WWII lasted. In war, civilian casualties are always something each and every country will face, but luckily with new technology civilian casualties are about 3% of what they used to be.
The US should continue to use drone strikes abroad. Drone strikes have stopped more than 50 terrorist plots since 2001. If the plots were not stopped by our drones, thousands of Americans could potentially have died. With new threats like ISIS, we need to be able to use drone strikes now more than ever. Unfortunately, when doing this there can be collateral damage. Over 500 lives have been lost due to collateral damage ever since the war on terrorism. But, the lives saved by our drone attacks could be in the thousands.
Economics
Drones are much more cost effective than your traditional fighter jet. The F-22 (fighter jet) costs 185 million per unit, an MQ-9 Reaper (commonly used UAV/Drone) cost 25 million per unit. The annual cost for an F-22 is 11 thousand dollars, while the annual cost or an MQ-9 Reaper is about three thousand dollars. Finally, an MQ-9 Reaper costs 3.25 dollars per flight hour, while an F-22 costs 11.26 dollars per flight hour. This cost effectiveness is very key to our military, and it can help our military spending plummet rapidly.
Human Risk
Each year many hundreds of American fighter pilots die due to crashes and midair collisions. Drones can take the human risk factor out of harm’s way by being unmanned while flying. These drones can be flown from an operator sitting in a building miles away from the drone. The amount of US Air Force pilots is dwindling away, and these drones can keep pilots from being exposed to potentially dangerous situations.
The Nature of War
Unfortunately, the nature of war is absolutely cruel, and destructive. In WWII, over a million civilians were killed, and there were around 335,000 killed in Japanese airstrikes alone. Collateral damage of US drone strikes aren’t nearly as high as it was in WWII, and we’ve been in a war on terrorism more than twice as long as WWII lasted. In war, civilian casualties are always something each and every country will face, but luckily with new technology civilian casualties are about 3% of what they used to be.