Droning Discourse : Remotely Piloted Systems and the Masculine Protector State

Abstract

Remotely Piloted Aircraft do not exist in a vacuum. First, they exist within the “surveillant assemblage” of wetware-software-hardware: pilot-sensor/analyst systems-RPA. In this assemblage, pilots are relegated as secondary and feminised in relation to the masculine, protective hardware. Further, sensor analyst systems are relegated as secondary to the video footage the RPA itself gathers. The assemblage of the RPA is praised for interoperation and expected to continue to interoperate in tighter, faster succession. However, gendered tensions exist within this system, and gendered tensions exist in the interaction of the RPA with other systems. This is evident in the strike in Uruzgan province, when RPA operators lament that the Kiowa helicopter struck the convoy instead of the RPA. Gendered tensions are also revealed in the reactions of service members, lobby groups, and US officials to the Distinguished Warfare Medal: while the RPA itself is heralded as a masculine killer, pilots are mere “button-pushers,” and feminised in comparison to “real warriors.”