States generate the hardware of military power by either developing new technologies as first mover or adopting demonstrated technology as second mover. Given that military drones have arguably demonstrated effectiveness and thus proliferate, scholars have produced profound insights into today’s second mover dynamics. Yet, the preceding political process of developing this military technology remains poorly understood. The article’s objective is to explain how states become first movers of military hardware. To this end, it applies four causal mechanisms of military innovation studies to the historical trajectory of the development of drones. I argue that security threats initially formed state interests in drones. Yet, capacity was necessary for success. Politically induced transfers and cross-sector diffusion supplied technological progress. At the same time, distributional implications and legacy systems constrained the development process, but could ultimately be overcome. This mechanismic pathway results from the process-tracing analysis of two separate, but related trajectories in Israel and the United States since the 1970s. Given within-case variation, a sequencing and domain-of-application perspective allows the formulation of scope conditions of the mechanisms behind military innovation. This contributes to a historically contingent, yet generalisable, understanding of the political process of how states generate military power.

中文翻译：

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如何成为先行者？军事创新机制与无人机发展

国家通过开发新技术作为先行者或采用已证明的技术作为后行者来产生军事力量的硬件。鉴于军用无人机可以说已经证明了有效性并因此激增，学者们对当今的第二推动者动态产生了深刻的见解。然而，开发这种军事技术的先前政治过程仍然知之甚少。这篇文章的目的是解释国家如何成为军事硬件的先行者。为此，它将军事创新研究的四个因果机制应用于无人机发展的历史轨迹。我认为，安全威胁最初形成了无人机的国家利益。然而，能力是成功的必要条件。政治诱导的转移和跨部门扩散提供了技术进步。同时，分布影响和遗留系统限制了开发过程，但最终可以克服。这一机制途径源于对自 1970 年代以来以色列和美国两条独立但相关的轨迹的过程追踪分析。鉴于案例内的变化，排序和应用领域的观点允许制定军事创新背后机制的范围条件。这有助于对国家如何产生军事力量的政治过程的历史偶然但普遍的理解。但自 1970 年代以来以色列和美国的相关轨迹。鉴于案例内的变化，排序和应用领域的观点允许制定军事创新背后机制的范围条件。这有助于对国家如何产生军事力量的政治过程的历史偶然但普遍的理解。但自 1970 年代以来以色列和美国的相关轨迹。鉴于案例内的变化，排序和应用领域的观点允许制定军事创新背后机制的范围条件。这有助于对国家如何产生军事力量的政治过程的历史偶然但普遍的理解。