The size of Global Hawk was dictated by its need for long endurance in collecting multiple types of intelligence. Unfortunately, that makes it easy to track and target. Wikipedia
Loren Thompson, Forbes: Five Sobering Lessons From Iran's Downing Of America's Most Capable Drone
Iran's destruction of a U.S. Global Hawk unmanned aircraft with a surface-to-air missile near the Strait of Hormuz should be a wake-up call for proponents of autonomous or remotely-piloted warfighting systems. The era of drone warfare is not upon us, because the vehicles currently available for military purposes are too limited in their capabilities to survive combat with a reasonably well-equipped adversary.
Drones became popular in military circles at a time when the U.S. was fighting adversaries who lacked air forces or air defenses. That has led some observers to over-estimate their near-term utility in warfare. With U.S. defense strategy now shifted from a focus on irregular forces (like ISIS) to great-power competition, the relevance of unmanned systems to fighting and winning wars has become less clear.
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WNU Editor: This trend of lesser military powers acquiring and deploying potent air defenses is only going to continue to grow. Stealth will probably be the way to go to counter what these "second rate" adversaries.
