It's been 24 years since what is widely considered the first lethal drone strike: a Predator UAV attack on an al-Qaeda vehicle convoy in Afghanistan just nine weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The strike killed Mohammed Atef, son-in-law of Osama bin Laden and head of the group's military operations, and made clear to all that 21st century warfare was going to see a large role for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Large, expensive fixed-wing drones such as the Predator and Reaper still have their place. Canada has ordered a fleet of similar drones expected to be up and running in 2033.

But the war in Ukraine has shifted the focus away from multimillion-dollar UAVs to much cheaper, smaller and sometimes disposable drones.

Bill Blair, at the time the minister of defence, announced last

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