How are drones being flown over the gray zone?

Drones have been affecting many areas since their advent, including conflicts between states. Used as a coercive measure, how they are flown by measured or limited revisionists can be understood in terms of the gray zone strategy. The concept of the gray zone is somewhere between peace and war, and the gray zone strategy enables revisionists to gradually alter the status quo without triggering war or overt conflict. Both theoretically and empirically, drones could be a useful tool in gray zone conflicts. This paper attempts to specify and organise such operations according to the question: "How are drones being flown over the gray zone?" Revisionist states fly drones based on the salami tactic, or feigned innocence, or by putting them in the hands of proxy forces to expand gradually their interests and destabilise troubled regions; therefore, understanding drone strategy and considering counter-measures are indispensable for securing stability in such regions.