Spying technology is getting more sophisticated. Drones as we know them are obsolete. Robots appearing as living creatures are becoming science fact. First, robotic birds, then robotic insects. They look like the real thing and behave the same. Robotic birds fly over enemy territories, take photos and send data to their commanders. They come-up closer and provide data beyond anything satellites may offer. Flies on the wall record conversations. Counter-intelligence measures spot the drones the moment they transmit data.

Intelligence tactics still improve: drones record data and return to base, to avoid detection of any radio signal they transmit. Robots join bird flocks on their way above enemy camps, then return via detour. This all makes drone interception virtually impossible, rivaling spying satellites in many respects.

Enemy troops take a drastic measure: shoot ANYTHING that moves (in air or on land) and is not human. This safety measure comes at a cost: Bird migration is disrupted, animals are shot for no apparent reason, and more insects die from laser guns than from pesticides.

The counter-intelligence measures take a toll on the environment. But, is it the inevitable outcome? Is the result really that bad? Will the battle go that far out of control? Building underground comes to mind, but the machinery and the piles of dirt which result disclose the clandestine activities. Underwater camps face challenges with different drones... What will save the animals?

Edit: the surveillance system kills only whatever comes close to a protected area, it does not operate outside its safety area


closed as primarily opinion-based by Renan, jdunlop, Hoyle's ghost, Gryphon, rek Feb 7 at 23:31


  • $\begingroup$ It doesn't affect wildlife out of war zones. Unless the bases are built on a migration path or something then it shouldn't cause too much trouble. $\endgroup$ – chasly from UK Feb 7 at 20:30
  • $\begingroup$ Shooting all insects may require more tech and energy than what we could have in the next decades. $\endgroup$ – Renan Feb 7 at 20:34
  • $\begingroup$ @Renan But devices to shoot down flying insects, possibly with tiny guns or lasers, could have important civilian uses. Every person in certain areas could be accompanied by some mechanical bodyguard to shoot down malaria-spreading mosquitoes, or bees or wasps when and if they attack the person. $\endgroup$ – M. A. Golding Feb 7 at 21:44
  • $\begingroup$ @M.A.Golding already exists, youtube.com/watch?v=fH_x3kpG8Z4 $\endgroup$ – John Feb 7 at 22:13
  • $\begingroup$ I wish I could answer this because there are a few simple ways to prevent this. Rebroadcast the GPS signal to make the drones think they are at home and they will land in your hand. Broadcast every frequency the controllers use to block out remote commands. Just emp everything (shield the houses so internal electronics are okay). Shoot rain pellets in the sky to make it rain. Or directional signal jammers/emps to prevent signal tansmission and fry electronics. Or use passive random noise to prevent listening devices (e.g. water fountain). Seriously.... stuff like this is possible now. $\endgroup$ – Shadowzee Feb 8 at 4:05

Counter surveillance-drone drones

Seeded into flocks & herds, loitering in the sky.

Equipped with infra red cameras, if your surveillance-drones don't have a perfect infra-red signature to match the real animal they'll be subject to seek & destroy protocols.

When close up metal detectors allow the counter surveillance-drone drones to identify enemy drones by the presence of metal (if there is any), similarly, electrical sensors to detect any electrical activity in flock mates that would be excessive for a real live flesh & blood animal.

Algorithms that identify any abnormal flight patterns or movements (etc) for the supposed species.

There's an abundance of potential countermeasures, those are just the ones that sprang to mind.

Unless your surveillance-drones appear to be perfectly ordinary flesh & blood to a whole range of sensors they'll be heading for that great scrap yard in the sky.

Killing all the wildlife could be a dead giveaway to any spy satellites up there that there's something worth having a closer look at down in that animal dead-zone, so could attract unwanted attention, that might be one reason to avoid doing it.


The best way to incapacitate an advanced drone would be to disrupt the GPS signal.
If the defenders were able to jam the GPS signal around their base, the drones would face big problems to navigate the zone.
They could still rely on camera navigation (recognize landmarks by photogrammetry and use them to find their path), but in this case they would need to be bulky (no insect-sized drones) to accomodate for camera, extra computing power and - above all - extra battery power, since they would need to keep their camera always on, rather than turning it on only near the target to spy.
Unluckily the birds would still be target for your anti-drones systems. If the purpose of the defenders is to lower the false positives (sadly, they would do this to spare the ammunitions rather than to spare the birds...), maybe they could employ thermal cameras to be able to distinguish a bird from a drone (as long as the enemy doesn't invent drones that have the same thermograms as birds...).


One possibility is an end to war due to either one party conquering everyone else or every state joining together in mutual surrender to unite and create a world government.

Either way would avoid the horror of war continuing for generation after generation, century after century, millennia after millennia, for tens of thousands of years, hundreds of thousands of years, millions of years into the future.

If there are no independent states to make war on one another then there won't be any governments worried that enemy spy drones will see their war preparations and so take precautions to shoot down all birds and insects that might be spy devices in disguise.

