S2E57: Asia's drone wars: Who's buying Predators and Reapers?

As Asia’s militaries show an increasing appetite to deploy drones – most recently during the Thai-Cambodian skirmishes and the brief India-Pakistan conflict in May, 2025, we speak to the chief executive of the company that makes lethal Unmanned Aerial Systems such as the Predator, Reaper and Sea Guardian. Synopsis: The Straits Times’ senior columnist Ravi Velloor distils 45 years of experience covering the Asian continent, with expert guests. In this wide-ranging conversation, Ravi speaks with Dr Vivek Lall, Chief Executive of General Atomics Global Corp, on trends in modern warfare, the rise of data-driven hi-tech weapons, weapons that ‘loiter’ in the air awaiting command from the ground and space as the next frontier of contestation.  They also focus on UASs – in warfare and potentially for civil use – and discuss whether unmanned drones have raised the risk of warfare by not putting pilots directly in harm’s way. Highlights (click/tap above): 2:46 'The future is in unmanned systems' 5:45 ‘Hey, there’s an UAV flying right alongside me’ 7:00 Asian militaries buying Predators and eyeing EMALS: India, Japan, Taiwan, Asean 14:05 Can US go it alone in defence research? 16:43 Does unmanned raise risk of war? 20:32 ‘There will always be pilots’ Read Ravi's columns: https://str.sg/3xRP Follow Ravi on X: https://twitter.com/RaviVelloor Sign up for ST’s weekly Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/sfpz  Host: Ravi Velloor ([email protected]) Produced and edited by: Fa’izah Sani Executive producer: Ernest Luis Follow Asian Insider Podcast on Fridays here: Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7  Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8  Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX Feedback to: [email protected] SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg --- Follow more ST podcast channels: All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7 Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts The Usual Place Podcast YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa --- Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section: The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX --- #STAsianInsiderSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.