Repeated drone losses can lead to a dangerous inference about national will. A state may decline to risk human lives over an expendable machine, yet an opponent can read that restraint as fear or inability to defend itself. The misunderstanding is especially likely when the destroyed systems appear advanced and valuable from the attacker's perspective. Different valuations of people and machines can corrupt deterrence signals before either side intends open war.
Notable Point · 18:08-20:19
The danger of reading restraint as weakness
Repeated attacks on expendable systems can make an opponent mistake deliberate restraint for fear and underestimate the response to a more serious blow.