The performance of Turkish UCAVs in Syria, Libya, and Karabakh brought new questions to the military field. One of the most significant advantages of the UCAVs was preventing loss of life, being unmanned systems. They were also economical in comparison to most military systems.
On the other hand, UAVs had an important function in gathering intelligence. Enemy elements becoming easy targets against the UCAVs established an important psychological advantage in warfare.
Thus, with footage of enemy targets being hit, Turkey's allies and sister countries obtained significant gains in psychological warfare as well. Whether Turkish UCAVs will turn into a driving force in Ukraine too, as in other regions, is also on the agenda of Russian military experts.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia requesting to buy UCAVs from Turkey may bring along a new agenda in terms of the transformative effects of Turkish UCAVs in the region.
One of the remarkable comments on the UCAVs was made by the American political scientist Francis Fukuyama who put forward the "End of History" thesis. Fukuyama wrote that UCAV usage contributed to Turkey's rising as a regional power and had a decisive impact on the power balance.
Another remarkable point in Fukuyama's article was that he highlighted that the UCAV technology would change the nature of ground troops. In wars, the ground troops and tanks were an important element of holding, as well as capturing, the region where the war started.
It was quite costly to have the tanks, weapons, and systems necessary for these armies, as well as keeping these systems up to date. The UCAVs could easily destroy tanks and carry out an unmanned war, significantly reducing the financial and psychological costs of wars. This situation pointed to developments that would change the rules of warfare.
Of course, the need for costly systems that are easily destroyed will not completely disappear due to the different functions that they have; however, developments indicate that the need for these systems may decrease. Thus, we could say that the use of UCAVs in the context of warfare, defense, and attack is likely to kick off a new era.
In addition, the Turkish army, which gained experience in combining land and air systems, especially in Operation Olive Branch and Operation Peace Spring, has become a prominent power among the world armies with this rare experience.
In his thesis "The End of History", Fukuyama had argued that Islam appeals to a large number of people in the world and has important effects on the social order, but that it is not strong enough to drag large masses and bring a new order to the entire world. Time will tell if different assessments will be made when Turkey's transformative role in the region is considered together with Fukuyama's assessment regarding Turkish UCAVs and his approach towards Islam in his "The End of History" thesis.
However, we may expect such new assessments when the military and political steps taken by Turkey that reduce or eliminate conflicts in the region are considered together with the transformative effects of Turkish UCAVs and Turkey's contributions to regional peace. Perhaps, the "End of History" thesis could evolve into the "Return of History".
In conclusion, Turkish UCAVs have earned a worldwide reputation in many fields with their decisive role in the field and the new opportunities they present in warfare. The UCAVs can be said to have become an effective political tool utilized by Turkey in the region.
We could say that the UCAV policy of Turkey creates a psychological sphere of influence with the operational success it had against the Russian Pantsir air defense systems -- the recent technology that attracted great attention from international media -- and the footage of the targets being hit on the field.
We can observe that Turkish UCAVs have risen to a position that is commercial against global powers who hold a monopoly over arms sales, unrivaled in the messages sent to opposing armies and indisputable in regards to the marks that they have left on war history.
This article has been penned by Mustafa Öztop [who is the Ph.D. candidate at the Political History and International Relations of the Middle East Department of Marmara University] for Turkey's state-run news agency.
