Persuasive Essay On Drones

698 Words2 Pages

Drone Strikes Abroad Since 2001 after the 9/11 attacks on the world trade centers the US has been using armed drones in the middle east. They have been using unarmed drones since 2000 as surveillance drones. UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) are used to target, watch, and kill targets from across the world. Drone pilots are usually in the United States on bases while the drone is in the Middle East or in another country. Drones are known to be extremely accurate and can take out a target with minimal damage to non targeted, surrounding areas. There has been some controversy regarding drone strikes, there have been reports of civilian casualties from drone strikes. Although drone strikes have killed civilians before, they should continue to use them because the gain of killing a high valued target is greater than the loss. Drones strikes are used as an alternative to a manned fighter jet. They keep human lives out of harm’s way by not putting them in the line of fire. Currently there are countless UAVs in the US Air Force with about 405 armed drones including the most popular, the Predator but not limited to it. With that many armed drones in use that means there are at least 405 pilots not at risk of being hurt, killed, …show more content…

This means that it is cheaper to operate drones then actual jets. Drones use smaller propeller engines which save fuel while fighter jets burn a lot of jet fuel. The cost of the entire drone fleet in the US Air force costs about $5 billion while it costs about $9.7 billion the F-35 fighter jet program. It costs about 6-42 times as much to operate a manned aircraft then it does to operate an unmanned aircraft (Mark Thompson). The US spent $2.2 trillion to fund manned airstrikes in Afghanistan and Iraq while Al Qaeda spent half a million dollars to execute the 9/11 attacks. With drones and unmanned aircraft we can fight terrorism just as effectively for a much cheaper

More about Persuasive Essay On Drones

Open Document