[PDF] Embracing Drone Diversity: Five Challenges to Western Military Adaptation in Drone Warfare - King's College London

FREEMAN AIR & SPACE INSTITUTE ISSN 2754-0510 Paper 29 Published: April 2025 Embracing Drone Diversity: Five Challenges to Western Military Adaptation in Drone Warfare Dr Dominika Kunertova About the Freeman Air and Space Institute The Freeman Air and Space Institute (FASI) is an inter‑disciplinary initiative of the School of Security Studies, King’s College London. It is dedicated to generating original knowledge and understanding of air and space issues. The Institute seeks to inform scholarly, policy and doctrinal debates in a rapidly evolving strategic environment characterised by transformative technological change which is increasing the complexity of the air and space domains. FASI places a priority on identifying, developing and cultivating air and space thinkers in academic and practical contexts, as well as informing, equipping and stimulating relevant air and space education provision at King’s and beyond. The Freeman Institute is named after Air Chief Marshal Sir Wilfrid Freeman (1888–1953), who was crucially influential in British air capability development in the late 1930s and during the Second World War, making an important contribution to the Allied victory. He played a central role in the development of successful aircraft including the Spitfire, Lancaster and Mosquito, and in planning the wartime aircraft economy – the largest state‑sponsored industrial venture in British history. Embracing Drone Diversity: Five Challenges to Western Military Adaptation in Drone Warfare Freeman Air & Space Institute 3 Embracing Drone Diversity: Five Challenges to Western Military Adaptation in Drone Warfare Dr Dominika Kunertova FREEMAN AIR & SPACE INSTITUTE About the Author Dr Dominika Kunertova is an independent research scientist specialising in military applications of emerging technologies, international security, and transatlantic defence cooperation. A former NATO international staffer, Dr Kunertova recently served as a Senior Researcher at ETH Zurich, where she worked on uncrewed systems in the context of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Her ongoing research on drone warfare, autonomy, and artificial intelligence received grant awards from the NATO Science for Peace and Security and NATO Chief Scientist programmes. She has published her academic research and public affairs commentary in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Contemporary Security Policy, Defence Studies, the Naval War College Review, RUSI Newsbrief, and more. Dr Kunertova is also a non‑resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and an affiliate researcher at the Peace Research Center Prague. She holds a PhD in Political Science from Université de Montréal. 4 Freeman Air & Space Institute Embracing Drone Diversity: Five Challenges to Western Military Adaptation in Drone Warfare Abstract Contemporary drone warfare highlights key implications for doctrinal and force structure adaptation. Lessons from the Russia‑Ukraine war have led Western policyma