Drones have become the iconic weapon of the war in Ukraine. They are being used on both sides, in numbers that were previously inconceivable. The role played by civilian systems is particularly noteworthy. But should we expect future wars to look like the war in Ukraine, or are we witnessing “peak drone”?  

In this talk, Dr. Franke discusses how drones are being used by Ukraine and Russia, the role they are playing and the extent to which they are changing warfare. How is the technology evolving, and what lessons should Western nations draw from this?

Dr. Ulrike Franke is a Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, based in Paris. Her areas of focus include German and European security and defence, the future of warfare, and the impact of new technologies such as drones and artificial intelligence on geopolitics and warfare. Franke has published widely on these and other topics, and regularly appears as commentator in the media. She co-hosts Sicherheitshalber, a German-language podcast on security and defence, as well as Le casque et la plume, a French podcast on geopolitics. She holds a DPhil in international relations from the University of Oxford, in her thesis she studied the use of drones by Western armed forces. She also holds a BA from Sciences Po Paris and a double summa cum laude MA from Sciences Po Paris and the University of St. Gallen. She teaches at Sciences Po Paris.