The Drone Revolution and Transformation of the Nature of Battle and Alignments in the Tomorrow’s Middle East

Drones have been visible in the Middle East military conflicts more than any other region of the world. Particular characteristics of drones in the battlefields including simplicity, affordability, difficulty in downing them and the possibility of inflicting heavy damages have led to the rise of a peril that the military balance in the Middle East might be disrupted. The basis of this military balance within the last five decades involved the consolidation of Israel’s place as the superior regional military power thanks to its unrivaled air force, restricting and controlling other regional countries’ search for air warfare resources and ballistic and cruise missiles, controlling the updating and supplying parts and ammunitions for fighters as a guarantee on the behavior of allies and making efforts at turning the allies’ strategy a defensive one through maintaining military balance in the air warfare sphere, which was precisely pursued by the United States in the Middle East. Nonetheless, the drone revolution in the Middle East formed by new actors from Turkiye and Iran and any other state to non-state paramilitary groups have resulted in the formation of new strategic issues and trends in the region. This includes challenges posed to Israel’s military position in air, diminished U.S. control over regional military trends, and weakened planning in the development of anti-missile and air defense systems.