In the movie Top Gun: Maverick, Ed Harris’s gravel-toned character tells Tom Cruise, “These planes you have been testing, Captain, one day, sooner or later, they won’t need pilots at all, pilots that need to sleep, eat, take a p*ss, pilots who disobey orders. All you did was buy some time for those men out there.” It was not just a clever line written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. It was a prophecy.
In the movie Border, Wing Commander Andy Bajwa, played by Jackie Shroff, tells Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, played by Sunny Deol, that it is the Air Force that hits the enemy in its territory. There was a time when this was a reality. In the Kargil War, the Air Force played a vital role in demolishing the Pakistani posts and bunkers.
While war stories and movie screenplays draw from real-life experiences, things are changing fast, especially since affordable drones have become highly efficient weapons on the battlefield.
Today, the world’s battlefields are being rewritten, not in cockpit dogfights, but in silent strikes launched from container trucks, caves, and bunkers. Drones, loitering munitions, FPVs, machines that do not sleep, do not eat, do not question, and just obey, are now writing the war stories.
The swagger of the pilot flying a modern fighter jet may still echo in military hangars and even on the frontlines for the next few years. However, it is the cheap plastic propellers that are taking over the limelight, one drone at a time. The age of drone warfare has arrived. And the big question is: are fighter jets now on the path to becoming just museum pieces with afterburners?
Ukraine-Russia war – Where drones turned the tide
Forget the high-tech Rafales or F-35s, or the thunder of MiG engines or the Sukhois. The Russia-Ukraine war became history’s first large-scale conflict where drones, loitering munitions, and cheap FPV quadcopters did not just support operations, they defined them.
From the early days of the war, Turkish Bayraktar TB2s helped Ukraine decimate Russian armoured columns. Iranian Shahed-136 drones, packed with explosives, swarmed Ukrainian cities in retaliation. Then came the evolution: commercial racing drones retrofitted with grenades. Loitering munitions that hovered silently above soldiers, tracked movement, and exploded only when a confirmed kill was guaranteed. Hundreds of videos were shared by both sides since the war began to demonstrate how cheap drones successfully took out the enemy.
Above all, the recent Operation Spiderweb showed how far drone warfare has evolved right before our eyes. Around 1.5 years ago, Ukraine reportedly started preparing to hit airbases located deep inside Russia. Slowly, it smuggled the drones in wooden boxes and used local truckers to drive them to the locations. The trucks were parked near the airbases by unsuspecting drivers.
This will be in textbooks.
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) June 1, 2025
Ukraine secretly delivered FPV drones and wooden mobile cabins into Russia. The drones were hidden under the roofs of the cabins, which were later mounted on trucks.
At the signal, the roofs opened remotely. Dozens of drones launched directly from the… pic.twitter.com/sJyG3WyYYI
When triggered remotely, these drones flew under radar detection, destroyed billion-dollar aircraft, and exposed the limits of Russia’s air defences. No jet needed to cross the border. Just planning, patience, and a laptop. This is not science fiction. It is the new normal of drone warfare.
India’s Operation Sindoor – Silent wings, loud message
Recently, India launched Operation Sindoor against Pakistan in retaliation to the Pahalgam terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 26 innocent Hindus. India struck terror camps inside Pakistan and in Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir. In retaliation, Pakistan used swarm drones it received from its ally countries like Turkey to attack Indian civilian and military locations. The Indian air defence system neutralised the attack.
Then came the time for India to retaliate. The Indian armed forces relied heavily on Indian made FPV drones, Heron UAVs and tactical loitering munitions. India-built loitering munition JM-1 also proved its potential in the operation. Targets were mapped using high resolution drone surveillance, cross verified with intelligence inputs, and then marked for precision attacks. While Indian missiles devastated Pakistani air bases, Indian decoy drones also played a vital role, especially in creating heat signatures that matched Indian fighter jets, confusing the Pakistani air defence system. Use of drones by both sides wrote a new chapter in warfare.
A 100% Indian-designed suicide drone called the JM-1 made its combat debut in Operation Sindoor becoming the first ‘Atmanirbhar’ loitering munition to strike Pakistani targets. The Indian drone warfare story is probably this conflict’s biggest takeaway: pic.twitter.com/u6SUDjHqOD
— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) May 20, 2025
The Azerbaijan Armenia war – Bayraktar’s coming out party
Before Ukraine turned drones into front page headlines, it was the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war that first announced the arrival of the unmanned predator. Azerbaijan, armed with Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones, subdued the Armenian forces. Azerbaijan reportedly used bait drones to get information of the air defence system and then used modern drones to destroy them.
Vətən müharibəsində dronları idarə edən hərbçilərimizin ermənilərə mesajı: SÜRPRİZ #Azerbaijan #Azerbaycan #Karabakh #QarabağAzərbaycandır #Karabağ #Drone #BayraktarTb2 pic.twitter.com/ncwjPRN2IR
— Ismayil Jabiyev (@ismayiljabiyev) November 2, 2021
In just 44 days, Armenia lost hundreds of tanks, artillery pieces, and mobile air defence units, several of them destroyed in full HD footage recorded by drones and released online as psychological warfare. The problem with these drones is that the air defence systems cannot react in time. This is what benefitted Azerbaijan. Troops were slaughtered in convoys before they even knew what hit them.
Azerbaijan’s use of Turkish drones gave it a decisive edge and victory over Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 2020.
— TRT World (@trtworld) January 5, 2021
Here’s a look at why the world is now taking notice of Turkish drone and defence technology pic.twitter.com/7P5EXhVoDm
Suddenly, countries across the globe began shopping for drones that could do what fighter jets and expensive missiles struggled with, cheap, accurate, risk-free elimination.
It is not that drones have never been part of warfare. The United States and other Western countries have been using them to strike locations in the Middle East including Syria. However, the drones they use are expensive and difficult to acquire. Most countries cannot even think of raising a squadron of such drones. The drones that are now being used are dirt cheap compared to fighter jets.
In the post Armenia world, drones were no longer support weapons. They were war winners.
Loitering munitions – The kamikaze bots with patience
Cruise missiles follow coordinates. Drones like the MQ 9 Reaper return home after striking the target. However, loitering munitions, or LMs, are built to wait. Think of them as flying snipers with the patience of a monk and the temperament of a suicide bomber. Once launched, they hover, sometimes for hours, circling above a battlefield, scanning for movement. The moment they lock on to a human heat signature, a tank, or a radar signal, they descend with clinical precision. There is no warning. There is no escape.
Russia turned Oekainian armoured vehicles into scrap metal. The footage shows several armoured vehicles destroyed by Russian UAVs and Lancet loitering munitions of the Sever Group of Forces in the border area of Kursk region. pic.twitter.com/u1Mob5T3zG
— sonja van den ende (@SonjaEnde) August 24, 2024
India’s Nagastra-1 costs only 5,500 dollars or approximately 4.69 lakh rupees. Compared to a Rafale, which costs around 242 million dollars per unit, India could add 44,000 Nagastra-1 drones to its armoury for the same amount.
In the Russia Ukraine war, videos surfaced from time to time showing loitering munitions tailing soldiers like persistent wasps. Some even paused mid-air, as if contemplating the target, before plunging straight into it. These drones are basically algorithms with a kill switch.
DPR quadcopter drone grenade strikes against Ukrainian soldiers near Pervomaisk pic.twitter.com/pWhXsxiFfQ
— LogKa (@LogKa11) February 11, 2023
Countries like Israel pioneered the technology with systems like the Harop, but now even Iran’s Shahed 131 and 136 are giving competition. With loitering munitions, wars are no longer fought with fighter jets engaging in aerial combat. They are being fought, and will continue to be fought, with drones that watch from above and kill their targets with a single dive.
Who rules the sky now? A look at the top war drones
The new air force in the future may not require billions of dollars worth of jets, vast airstrips and pilots that take years to train in combat. It fits into shipping containers and launches on demand. Here is a look at the current kings of the unmanned skies:
Bayraktar TB2 is a Turkey-made drone that is cheap, camera ready, and deadly. It has been used in Syria, Libya, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan.
Shahed 136 and 131 are Iran-made kamikaze drones sold to proxies from Yemen to Russia. They are unreliable but dangerous when used in swarms.
MQ 9 Reaper is a United States-made, long endurance, satellite linked hunter killer drone. These are expensive but unmatched in range and precision.
Wing Loong II and the CH series are China-made drones, seen as Beijing’s answer to the Reapers. These have been sold widely across Africa and the Middle East.
Israel-made IAI Harop and Heron drones are battle tested and versatile, with top class loitering capabilities.
India is also developing world class drones including Ghatak and CATS Warrior. Furthermore, India’s Nagastra-1 has already been battle tested during the recent India Pakistan war.
The best part is that most of these drones are cost effective. Some of them even cost less than a missile. The battlefield no longer belongs to the biggest, but to the smartest, and often the cheapest.
Are fighter jets finished? Not so fast
It is tempting to declare that the time of the fighter jet is over. After all, if a drone worth a few thousand dollars can destroy an aircraft worth hundreds of millions from a hidden truck, why bother building airstrips? However, it is not yet time to write the obituary. The reality is not that binary.
Fighter aircraft still dominate when it comes to deep penetration strikes, air superiority, and electronic warfare. They break the morale of the enemy, conduct high speed evasive missions, and carry payloads that drones still cannot manage. The Sukhoi 30, Rafale, or even India’s upcoming AMCA are not going extinct. They are evolving.
What is changing is the role. Fighter jets are no longer the lone wolves of air combat. They are becoming commanders in the sky, directing swarms of unmanned companions. Think of it as the Loyal Wingman concept, where drones fly ahead, scout targets, absorb enemy fire, and even conduct suicide attacks. Meanwhile, the pilot sits far behind in a safe control zone.
The future is not about replacing the fighter jet. It is about unburdening it.
Strategic implications – Drone doctrine or dinosaur doctrine
The real question for militaries around the world is not whether drones work. It is whether they have adjusted fast enough to lead with them. For countries including India, the shift from muscle to microchip requires a complete rethinking at the doctrinal level.
Now the question arises whether India should invest one and a half lakh crore rupees into more Rafales or spend half that amount building indigenous drone swarms and artificial intelligence-based warfare systems. Is India training enough drone operators, coders, and electronic warfare tacticians, or just more fighter pilots? In the twentieth century, whoever controlled the skies controlled the war. In the twenty first century, that equation has gained a new variable, data.
Cybersecurity, electronic warfare countermeasures, drone defence grids, and autonomous kill authorisations are now military necessities, not luxuries. Drone warfare is not just about hardware. It is about signal, software, and silence.
Conclusion – The sky no longer roars, it hums
There was a time when victory in war echoed through the sky in the form of sonic booms and roaring jet engines. They instilled fear in the hearts of the enemy. However, it is the whispers that now stop the heartbeat. The battlefield no longer roars. It hums. The mosquito like buzz of propellers, when heard by soldiers on the battlefield, makes them sit down and wait for their fate. It is exactly what has been witnessed in the Russia Ukraine war.
Fighter jets are not gone, and they are here to stay for a long time. However, their supremacy has been challenged in style. They now share the air with machines that do not breathe, do not blink, and do not hesitate. Drones do not break the sound barrier. They break the rules of traditional warfare.
The age of drone warfare is here. Countries that adapt will lead. Those that do not will be watching replays of their destruction in full high definition, filmed by the very drone that killed their comrades on the battlefield.
