Academia
Lessons from the battlefields of Ukraine, Russia and the Middle East have shown how unmanned aircraft can evade traditional air defenses, turning oil refineries, power stations, export terminals and pipelines into prime targets.
A woman walks on Feb. 1, 2026, past a mural depicting a United States drone painted on the outer walls of the former US Embassy in Tehran, colloquially referred to as the “Spy Den”. (AFP/Atta Kenare)
Cheap, mass-produced drones have transformed modern warfare, exposing critical energy infrastructure as an Achilles' heel for modern economies.Lessons from the battlefields of Ukraine, Russia and the Middle East have shown how unmanned aircraft can evade traditional air defenses, turning oil refineries, power stations, export terminals and pipelines into prime targets.
The implications for the energy industry are profound. Facilities that took decades and billions of dollars to build can now be threatened by swarms of drones costing a few hundred to a few thousand dollars apiece, dramatically shifting the balance between attacker and defender.
