"The drone, said Mingus, "is our IED of today" - a war-transforming technology that smaller powers could use to put big powers at a disadvantage. Ukraine has demonstrated this brilliantly over the last few years through its innovative use of drones to stymie the invading Russians."
"Many within the military and Congress - among them, notably, then-Sen. Joe Biden - were outraged over nearly two years of delays in deploying the MRAP, or "Mine Resistant Ambush Protected" vehicle, to address the IED threat. The issue wasn't resolved until a new defense secretary, Robert Gates, took over for Donald Rumsfeld in 2006."
"Appalled by what he called daily "funeral pyres for our troops," Gates imposed his will over bureaucratic resistance from the Pentagon - "Hurry up! Troops are dying," he'd tell reluctant officials over and over - and launched a crash program to send thousands of MRAPS to Iraq and Afghanistan."
The Pentagon created a joint interagency task force in July to accelerate military adaptation to drone warfare. Gen. James Mingus compared drones to IEDs, calling them a war-transforming asymmetric threat that smaller powers can exploit, with Ukraine demonstrating effective drone use against Russia. The U.S. experience in Iraq and Afghanistan showed how insurgent IEDs inflicted heavy casualties and how bureaucratic resistance delayed protective responses. Nearly two years passed before MRAP vehicles were widely deployed, a stalemate broken only after Robert Gates became defense secretary and forced a rapid acquisition program to protect troops.
Read at Business Insider
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