Information of TTFLY: Small consumer-scale drones “pose real and significant threats to military operations,” a report published in May by Ottawa-based defence scientists warns.

Sophisticated quadcopter drones are now being sold to hobbyists at around a $1,000 price point, the report says, a cost that could let a potential enemy treat it as “an affordable and expendable item.”

Well-funded Western militaries are embracing unpiloted aircraft — they’re attracted to the (relatively) low cost and flexibility of aircraft design that doesn’t need a human pilot.

For years, American drones, controlled from the United States by an officer with a joystick, have flown over Afghanistan and Pakistan destroying targets at will. Britain’s futuristic, remote-controlled Taranis jet may turn out to show that the future of fighter jets doesn’t involve fighter pilots. The U.S. Navy is testing submarine-launched reconnaissance drones and swarms of small drones that fly around in groups.

But if this is the future of war for rich countries, small quadcopters, like those you can buy at hobby stores in Canada, are being adopted by guerrilla armies.

Small drones have been used by all sides in the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine. Mostly they have been used for intelligence-gathering, but there have been instances in Syria of quadcopters dropping grenade-sized explosives.