With the rapid proliferation of drones, the Army must lead in the drone warfare space, according to the author of a new paper published by the Association of the U.S. Army.

“The dawn of tactical drone warfare is here,” writes Lt. Col. Michael Kim. “The Russo-Ukrainian War clearly displays the advent of [kinetic drone] warfare, and it behooves the U.S. Army to make critical changes today. The U.S. Army must lead this effort and integrate tactical [kinetic drones] at scale before the next major conflict.”

In his paper, “Full Speed Ahead: Integrating Kinetic Drones into the Combined-Arms Battalion,” Kim defines kinetic drones as “low-cost,” weighing less than 75 pounds and having payloads “for the purpose of destroying enemy capabilities.”

Kim serves as an operations planner for the Joint Planning Support Element, Joint Enabling Capabilities Command, and holds a master’s in military arts and science from the Command and General Staff College and a master's in systems engineering from Cornell University.

Between Feb. 24, 2022, and July 31, 2024, kinetic drone strikes during the Russia-Ukraine war accounted for over 40% of all combat-damaged vehicles where the weapon could be identified, outpacing artillery and armored fighting vehicles, according to data from the National Ground Intelligence Center.

Citing as a case study Japan’s shift from the battleship to the aircraft carrier as a revolution in naval warfare that enabled the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Kim suggests that the Army would benefit from incorporating kinetic drones into a restructuring of its combined-arms battalions.

“The U.S. [combined-arms battalion] force structure is heavily organized around the M1 Abrams Tank, the U.S. Army’s ‘battleship,’” Kim writes. “Perhaps there is great value, even as a thought experiment, in considering replacing a tank company with a [kinetic drone] company.”

In addition, Kim recommends equipping scout platoons within combined-arms battalions with counter-small UAS capabilities. “The next conflict will have drones flooding the skies. With the emergence of [kinetic drones], it is important for the [combined-arms battalion] to possess counter-small UAS capabilities,” he writes. “This fight must be the responsibility of the scout platoon. A scout platoon armed with a combination of [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] drones, [kinetic drones] and [counter-small UAS] drones will allow the commander to set conditions to mass firepower on the battlefield.”

Kim’s paper is part of AUSA’s new Harding Papers series, which was launched in conjunction with the Army’s Harding Project, an initiative that aims to revitalize scholarship and writing across the force.

The Army will have to reckon with the threat of kinetic drones in the next major conflict, Kim writes.

“Autonomous [kinetic drones] are inevitable. This is a problem set that U.S. Army formations will face in the next major conflict,” he writes. “Autonomous direct-fire capabilities will be leveraged in multiple domains, and the U.S. Army must integrate these systems at scale to prepare for future operations.”

Read the paper here.