How drones changed the face of the Ukrainian resistance

The US plans to give Ukraine ‘kamikaze’ drones as part of an $800 billion arms package

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The delivery includes 100 unmanned drones, US officials said euronews are “switchblades” – “small ‘suicide’ drones that explode on impact” with a target.

“Aerial drone footage of the destruction of Russian armored vehicles” has quickly “become a key tool in Ukraine’s information war and has garnered attention on social media,” Sky news reported. So how much did drones help the Ukrainian resistance?

“Invisible Threat”

Despite three weeks of near-continuous bombardment by Russian troops, “Ukrainian forces have defended the country’s cities using cheap drones with deadly effect,” Sky News said, “surprising Western military experts.”

The drones currently deployed by the Ukrainian military are Turkish-made TB2s that “have performed unexpectedly successful attacks.” They cost “less than $2 million (£1.5 million) each” and “are flown at low levels, allowing Ukrainian forces to attack Russian targets.”

“Although Turkish officials refuse to disclose details of drone sales to Ukraine,” the broadcaster added, independent estimates by open-source intelligence researchers “suggest that the number of TB2s in Ukraine ranges from 20 to 50.”

UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has praised Ukraine’s use of drone strikes, telling the House of Commons that Turkish TB2s were “incredibly important in slowing or blocking Russian advances”.

Accordingly The times, an “elite Ukrainian drone unit” has successfully hit dozens of “priority targets” by “attacking Russian forces while they sleep.” Aerorozvidka, “a specialized air reconnaissance unit within the army,” has shot down Russian “tanks, command trucks, and vehicles with electronic equipment since the beginning of the invasion.”

“Russian forces stand still as night falls,” the paper continued, “their fear of Ukrainian shelling forces them to hide their tanks in villages among houses, knowing that conventional artillery cannot risk hitting civilians. “

These “stationary convoys” have “become the main targets of Aerorozvidka, which has 50 squads of experienced drone pilots,” the newspaper added.

“It’s impossible to see our drones at night,” said an Aerorozvidka soldier. “We specifically look for the most valuable truck in the convoy and then hit it right on target and we can do that very well with very little collateral damage. It is also possible in the villages. You get a lot closer at night.”

Russia has so far “been able to stop Ukraine’s drone strikes,” said Justin Bronk, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

registered mail The audienceBronk stated that “it is also likely that the threat of attack from a silent and possibly invisible threat would have an outsized psychological impact on Russian troops’ morale and tactics”.

“The TB-2’s effectiveness to date speaks more to the capabilities of its Ukrainian operators and the incompetence and operational failures of the Russian armed forces than to any particularly unique capabilities of the drone itself,” he added.

second wave

The US-supplied drones are known as “kamikaze drones” because “they can be flown directly into a target, after which it will explode.” The Independent called. The name refers to “the tactic used by Japanese pilots during World War II to load small aircraft with explosives and fly them directly into Allied warships.

“There are two types of switchblade drones, the 300 and 600 series,” the newspaper added. “The 300 is intended for anti-personnel use, while the 600 is intended for use against tanks and armored vehicles.” But “it is unclear which – or if both – will be sent”.

The drones are “small enough to fit in a backpack, fly at around 100 km/h and carry cameras, guidance systems and explosives to bomb their target,” euronews reported. They “can also abort or abort a mission at any time and then turn to a different objective depending on the operator’s command.”

This could be crucial in the coming weeks. Jack Watling, research associate for land warfare at the RUSI, told Sky News that as the Russian armed forces become more organized, the opportunities for using drones are “shrinking”. “What we see now is that Ukrainians have to be careful when committing them,” he added.

Concerns are also growing after a Russian “suicide drone” that has “the ability to identify targets using artificial intelligence” was “spotted in images of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.” Wired reported.

“The drone itself can do little to change the course of the war in Ukraine, as there is no evidence to date that Russia is using it on a large scale,” the magazine said. But it “has raised concern about the potential for AI to play a larger role in deadly decision-making.”

https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/world-news/europe/956138/how-drones-changed-ukraine-resistance-russia How drones changed the face of the Ukrainian resistance