The skies over the conflict in Ukraine are filled with identical-looking consumer drones piloted by combatants and civilians alike – aircraft that promise to be a regular feature of war in the future. Few methods exist for telling small drones apart in airspace: combatants, unable to distinguish between drones that are a threat and those that aren’t, may direct attacks at civilian drone pilots.
In this post, civilian drone researcher and consultant Faine Greenwood argues that the aid world must move quickly to better define where small consumer drones fit into international humanitarian law.
