Ukraine is growing its drone army
A most noticeable detail of the Ukraine-russia war since last spring has been the escalation of Ukrainian drone attacks against targets throughout Russia.
Hesitant to officially acknowledge responsibility for these strikes, there is no doubt that they are a clear example of the growing capacity of Ukraine’s progressively imposing drone army.
The development in Ukraine’s drone tactics has helped to somewhat negate a huge imbalance in the war with Russia.
In the first full year after Russia’s invasion the battlefields were pretty much restricted to Ukrainian land with Russian territory rarely touched. Russian and Ukrainian armed forces battled across a front line running some 625 miles through eastern and southern Ukraine, with Russian missiles striking civilian targets across the country seemingly at will.
Ukraine’s means to respond was limited by restrictions placed by its allies providing military assistance. Weaponry supplied by Western leaders could only be utilized within Ukraine’s borders for fear of a Russian reprisal against their own countries. This condition allowed Russia’s military to regularly bombard Ukrainian residential areas, ports, infrastructure and other civilian targets knowing there would be no retaliation.
Fortunately, this utmost wariness about attacks inside Russia did not apply to strikes using Ukrainian weapons. This is why Ukraine has placed such a tremendous focus on developing and producing drones as a practical, efficient and economical way of counteracting Russia’s immense air superiority and its own dependency on the West’s military aid.
Many of the Ukrainian drones have been improvised — prototypes created by volunteers testing out battlefield conditions. In an effort to stay ahead of their Russian enemies, Ukraine’s drone manufacturers and operators are constantly innovating new and improved methods.
Ukraine’s drone army is not managed by one central institution but is run by various military units and state agencies. Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov heads a coordinating body and earlier this year co-founded BRAVE1, a defense tech group whose goal is to integrate collaboration between the government, military and Ukraine’s energetic tech startups.
Since Russia’s invasion Ukraine’s drone army has grown exponentially. According to reports, the country trained 10,000 new drone pilots in 2023. A New York Times article on Ukraine’s drone warfare stated that so many small drones fly around one section of the front line that the Ukrainian military coordinates its flights with air-traffic control.
Ukraine is trying to keep up with a rapidly soaring demand within its armed forces for more drones, as well as newer prototypes able to penetrate Russia’s defense.
In August 2023 The Economist reported there are more than 200 companies officially producing drones in Ukraine, with hundreds more small-scale manufacturers. The Ukrainian government has allocated $1.3 billion in its 2024 budget for drones.
In addition to drone ventures in battlefield areas, long-range strikes have begun to play a part in the country’s defense strategy. Targets identified for attack include Russia’s energy infrastructure (oil refineries and storage facilities), air bases deeper inside Russia, munitions storage facilities and air defense systems. Drones are being deployed to create openings for missile strikes.
Drones have been very useful in sea warfare where Ukraine’s Navy has no warships in the Black Sea, but its drones are successfully retaliating against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. Ukrainian naval drones reportedly impaired a Russian warship in the eastern Black Sea, far from the nearest Ukrainian-controlled coastline, in early August. The shift in the balance of power in the Black Sea has been credited to Ukraine’s upgraded naval drone proficiency.
Drone assaults have been taken up to openly humiliate the Kremlin and force Russia’s generals to relocate their air defenses away from the front lines of battle. A drone hit central Moscow a day before Victory Day in May 2023. The Moscow
City business center, home to several government agencies, has been regularly targeted, exposing weal air defenses in Russia’s capital city.
Ukraine has formulated a clear military game plan connecting its drone attacks on the front lines, inside Russia and at sea. The efficient destruction of military targets and stable erosion of Russia’s ability to wage war is contrary to Russia’s strategy of missile strikes as more of a psychological weapon to terrorize Ukraine’s civilians.
By attacking Russia at home, Ukrainian drones are weakening its armed forces inside Ukraine and making Putin shuffle his limited air defenses.
Ukraine is not the only country utilizing modern drone tactics.
Russia has quickly adjusted to drone threats and added drones to its offensive efforts with lethal success. Nonetheless, Ukraine’s strong tech sector and cuttingedge military leadership are helping the country capitalize on the new opportunities generated by drone warfare.
It will continue to be a challenge to stay a step ahead of the Russians, but Ukraine is currently holding its own in the world’s first extensive drone war.