Drone Warfare's Carbon Footprint: The Environmental Cost of 100,000 UAVs Amidst Russia, Ukraine War

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, have not only changed the contours of modern warfare, but their military use is causing immense harm to the environment as they continue to produce high level of carbon emissions.

With over 100,000 military drones in use around the world, UAVs are creating a new kind of war against environment, by their carbon emission.

Each Drone Flight Adds to a Growing Climate Toll

Although drones appear lighter and more efficient than traditional aircraft, their emissions are considerable. According to Military Sphere, a standard military UAV emits 80–150 kg of CO₂ per hour comparable to a short-haul passenger flight.

Multiply that by millions of flight hours annually, and drone warfare produces over 400,000 tonnes of CO₂ every year. That's roughly equivalent to the combined annual emissions of 86,000 British homes or, to put it another way, enough to cancel out the benefits of everyone in Leeds switching to electric cars.

Manufacturing Short-Lived Drones Creates Long-Term Waste

The environmental cost doesn't end in the air. Drone production relies heavily on:

• Carbon fibre, which requires intense heat and energy.
• Lithium-ion batteries, which generate toxic waste and are difficult to recycle.
• Rare earth elements, often extracted in environmentally sensitive areas.

Many military drones have short service lives, sometimes less than five years.

A 2023 European Defence Agency report found that drone-related waste has increased by 41% in the past decade.

If drones were smartphones, they'd be the type you drop once and can never use again, only they cost millions and come with missile attachments.

Building Drone Bases Is Destroying Natural Landscapes

To support UAV operations, military forces often build airstrips, hangars, and command stations in remote or biodiverse regions. This frequently leads to:

• Deforestation for infrastructure development.
• Soil erosion from heavy machinery.
• Water pollution linked to fuel and chemical storage.

In Mali, a drone base built between 2021 and 2023 cleared over 3,000 hectares of forest, equivalent to 12 Hyde Parks flattened in the name of surveillance.

Wildlife Is Fleeing from Drone Noise

Drones may avoid human casualties, but they bring chaos to ecosystems. Their erratic flight paths and mechanical buzz have been shown to:

• Disrupt bird nesting and migration.
• Alter the behaviour of large mammals, like elephants.
• Cause chronic stress in small animals, impacting feeding and reproduction.

'The sound alone drives the animals away,' said a Kenyan park ranger. 'Even the elephants now avoid entire sections of the park.'

Can Military Drones Ever Be Sustainable?

There are promising innovations in the works:

• Solar-powered UAVs for long-range surveillance.
• Hydrogen fuel cells with near-zero emissions.
• Modular parts to allow repairs and reduce landfill waste.

However, these remain in limited use. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimates that eco-friendly models could cut lifecycle emissions by up to 65%, but uptake is slow due to cost and performance demands.

Why Oversight and Transparency Are Urgent

Drone warfare might seem distant, playing out in far-off regions and high-tech command centres, but its environmental consequences are increasingly local and immediate.

According to the UK Ministry of Defence, military activity produced 2.1 million tonnes of CO₂ in 2023, and UAV operations now account for a rapidly growing share of that total. As drone use expands, so too does its contribution to the UK's defence-related carbon footprint, raising questions about accountability, sustainability, and the true cost of so-called precision warfare.