Jackson Bloom

P: B4 3/10/14

DronE

Since 2001, the U.Ss dependence on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) is rapidly increasing, the
U.Ss fleet went from 60 to more than 6,000 in a span of only 10 years. These drones handle a
variety of tasks, from reconnaissance to mine removal, to targeted assassinations and area
bombings, with the potential for much more. There is no question that a drone is the right choice
for a recon mission, or mine removal, which are lifesaving jobs, but the question as to if these
drones should be able to perform lethal strikes, which is largely debated. If a Drone has the
potential to perform a precise strike that only affects the people targeted, without collateral
damage, there should be no problem in doing so.

If a drone were able to assassinate a person that has/will kill innocent people or American
soldiers, it should. A record of this happening, is the assassination of some of Al-qaedas most
notorious members. Amongst the noteworthy, Anwar al-Anwlaki, who was the head of the
British cargo plane terrorist bombing. With a routine of these targeted killings against people
who have, and will kill innocent people, would save the lives of countless innocents, and that of
many American soldiers.

The efficiency of a drone, far surpasses that of a human. With the limits of a human being set to
what only a human can do, the potential for the drones are much larger by comparison. Drones
today come in all shapes and sizes, from large all terrain bots, to miniature aerial planes around
the size of your common house fly, with record endurance flights of 14 days straight, to record
flights of supersonic speed, the potential for drones, is virtually unlimited. With statistics like
that and the potential for so much more, a drones efficiency is impressive as its flight speed.
With all that in mind, there is no price on a human life, but the same cannot be said for a drone.

As expensive as a drone is, a human life is worth so much more, a drone isnt conscious, it
cannot love, or think, or do any more than what it is told, a human is independent, caring,
beautiful, and its a true tragedy when a person is taken too soon. Drones range from small
reconnaissance aircraft approximately 4million dollars, to large strike drones of about
16.9million, which sounds like a lot, but compared to the average cost of 1 soldier a year, 2.1m,
considering there are 38,000 soldiers deployed to Afghanistan alone, that totals to be
approximately 80 billion dollars annually, which is 20 billion dollars more than the upfront cost
of a drone, not an annual.

A large problem with drones targeted strikes, are the amount of collateral damage they cause,
But the data shows, thats in decline. Every year, major powers, such as the U.S. and the EU
grant more and more funds toward the research and development of drones, specifically in the
precision, and accuracy. The EU recently spiked there research fund from 1.4 billion Euro, to as
much as 3.8 billion Euro. It is obvious that the world is pushing for better and more precise
drones, to get the job done, without civilian casualty.

The Ethicality of a drones current use and potential precision to protect innocents and American
soldiers, is something that should not be overlooked. With the potential to stop crisis caused by
people who would see us harm, before it has the chance to begin, is a priceless trait as it stands.
With efficiency that is virtually unmatched, could easily change the face of war for the better.
But most of all, drones arent human, drones are expendable, they arent tragic.

Citations
Lee , Brianna. ""Drones"." (2012): 1-3. Print.
Yoo, John. "The Drone Wars." 33-36. Print.
. Wikipedia. Web. 10 Mar 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmanned_aerial_vehicle>.
"FCNL." . FCNL. Web. 10 Mar 2014. <http://fcnl.org/issues/foreign_policy/understanding_drones/>.
"EU steps up funding for drone research." EUobserver. EUobserver. Web. 10 Mar 2014.
<http://euobserver.com/defence/123098>.