Attack of the Drones: Is War Becoming a Video Game?

Attack of the Drones looks into the growing role that drones play in peacekeeping and military endeavours. It opens inside an air force data centre filled with banks of screens, some of which display the data being fed to servicemen and women by a drone’s camera. One drone operator is shown undergoing training to follow a moving target, focusing on a civilian vehicle travelling along a street in New Mexico.

While the film addresses the military applications of drones, such as how the air force is training more ‘desk pilots’ than traditional pilots, it also examines how police forces have begun to use drones more frequently to patrol for criminals. The documentary analyses the level of detachment drone operators may feel towards their targets, warning that some may perceive their actions as little more than a computer game played from the safety of a monitor.