The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Azerbaijan’s drones owned the battlefield in Nagorno-Karabakh — and showed future of warfare

November 11, 2020 at 4:06 p.m. EST
A soldier inspects the remains of a downed drone from Azerbaijan on Oct. 13, 2020, in Askeran, in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. (Alex Mcbride/Getty Images)

MOSCOW — The drone's-eye view over Nagorno-Karabakh defined much of the six-week war in the mountainous enclave within Azerbaijan: The video first showed soldiers below in trenches, then came blasts and smoke, then nothing.

Drone strikes — targeting Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh soldiers and destroying tanks, artillery and air defense systems — provided a huge advantage for Azerbaijan in the 44-day war and offered the clearest evidence yet of how battlefields are being transformed by unmanned attack drones rolling off assembly lines around the world.