An Islamic State Drone Bombs An M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank In Iraq

Talking of the Islamic State (IS), this recent propaganda video released by the group highlights its deployment of improvised drones in the conflict-zones of Syria and Iraq. This includes the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) armed with free-fall bombs, normally repurposed submunitions, light mortars or RPG warheads. The drones themselves are almost certainly civilian quadcopters rather than fixed-wing models, the explosive payloads released by radio command. Detonation is caused through contact or percussive fuzes as the nose-first bombs hit the objects below. Among the various CGI-enhanced incidences in the film is an attack on an American-supplied M1A1 Abrams main battle tank of the Iraqi Army during recent fighting near Mosul. The dropped ordnance lands almost square on the turret of the refurbished tank, the blast knocking the unfortunate commander sitting in the cupola back down into the vehicle. Though the weaponised drones of the IS initially caused panic rather than harm, the movement’s engineers and operators have rapidly advanced in sophistication nnd lethality over the last twelve months (trial-by-error and attrition are good winnowing processes).