Lessons from Africa’s Drone Wars

The rapid diffusion and growing use of inexpensive, attritable unmanned systems by Africa’s armed nonstate actors is reducing governments’ longstanding advantage in airpower. Armed nonstate actors across Africa are rapidly expanding their employment of commercially modified small unmanned systems, giving them an advantage over government forces. African military drone capabilities remain concentrated on imported long-endurance platforms and possess limited counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS) capabilities. African governments should adopt a risk-based doctrine for countering the armed nonstate actor drone threat that combines layered C-UAS defenses, efforts to restrict illicit drone supply chains, and the integration of small unmanned systems into force structures optimized for irregular warfare. Africa Center for Strategic Studies