The role of culture in military innovation studies: Lessons learned from the US Air Force's adoption of the Predator Drone, 1993-1997.

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, it contributes to our understanding of the role of culture in shaping innovation success and failure in the US Air Force, concluding that competing cultural norms explain the service's uneven and halting approach to the development and employment of the Predator drone. Second, it breaks new ground in the debate about the role of culture in military innovation. In contrast to earlier scholarship, it contends that it is possible to view culture as a central force in military innovation while adhering to the principles of positivism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]