Ukraine's innovative drone industry takes on Putin's weapons of war

Since fighting erupted in February 2022, Ukraine's domestic drone industry has emerged as an increasingly important factor in the fight to resist and defeat the formidable Russian military might. Ukraine's innovative use of drones has enabled it to counter Russia's far more abundant resources and strike back at targets everywhere from the Black Sea to oil refineries on Russian soil.

For more than two years, Ukrainian commanders have been adapting to the rapid changes on the battlefield shaped by the use of drones. In the first weeks of the war, as Putin’s invading forces tried to seize Kiev, Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones helped Ukraine attack overstretched Russian lines. Since then, a range of countermeasures, including increasingly sophisticated electronic warfare capabilities, have created an environment in which Russian and Ukrainian militaries are constantly competing to gain an innovative advantage over their enemies. Many consider this military technology race to be the decisive front of the war.

Stay up to date

As the world watches Russia's invasion of Ukraine unfold, UkraineAlert delivers insights and analysis from the best Atlantic Council experts on Ukraine directly to your inbox twice a week.

As the front lines stabilized during the first winter of the Russian invasion, trench warfare became a defining feature of the conflict, with drones filling the skies searching for targets. This created unprecedented visibility on both sides of the front, making offensive operations increasingly difficult. The vast majority of drones that flew over Ukrainian battlefields in the winter of 2022 were Chinese-made, giving Russia a major advantage due to Moscow's close relationship with Beijing.

Meanwhile, according to the Wall Street Journal, many of the Western drones used in Ukraine have proven costly and ineffective. Moreover, delays in military aid have highlighted the risks of Ukraine becoming overly dependent on Western partners. These factors helped convince policymakers in Kyiv to focus on developing a homegrown drone industry. They could call on Ukraine's vibrant technology sector to assist in these efforts.

Ukraine typically loses thousands of drones each month, so keeping production costs as low as possible is key. Flexibility in drone operations is also essential, as drone fleets often use 3D printing to modify and adapt parts to meet specific needs. With this in mind, Ukraine has adopted a decentralized approach to drone development that allows for rapid testing and deployment.

Ukraine's emphasis on agility contrasts with the centralized military structure favored by the Kremlin. While Russia can produce military equipment in large quantities, relatively slow decision-making processes and bureaucratic inefficiencies often hinder the Kremlin's ability to respond quickly to new realities on the battlefield. Many analysts believe this is a factor in Russia's recent appointment of a technocratic economist as its new defense minister.

Eurasia Center Events

The domestic drone industry in Ukraine has seen impressive growth over the past two years, with over 200 drone manufacturing companies established. The Ukrainian government has allocated $2 billion for drone production in 2024, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has set an annual production target of 1 million FPV drones.

Ukrainian leaders hope that the increase in drones will lead to less reliance on conventional weapons and fewer casualties. “We don't have as many manpower as Russia. They fight, they die, they send in more people and they don't care. But we don't think of war like that,” said Alex Borniakov, Ukraine's deputy minister for digital transformation.

A key element of Ukraine's drone strategy is the BRAVE1 initiative, a government-led defense technology cluster established in spring 2023 to streamline public-private cooperation. The cluster has helped many companies cut through red tape and accelerate the implementation of new technologies in support of Ukraine's defense.

The race to innovate is relentless, and Ukraine has been steadily improving its drone capabilities, which is reflected in Russia's rapidly expanding electronic warfare arsenal. Ukrainian engineers are now incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) technology into drones to overcome the Kremlin's increasingly sophisticated sabotage tactics. The innovation has already played a role in Kiev's long-range drone attack operations against Russia's energy industry, and CNN reports that Ukraine is using AI-enabled drones to strike targets as far away as Russia's Tatarstan region, more than 1,000 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

Ukraine's partners certainly seem to recognize the importance of drones, forming an international drone coalition to assist with deliveries. In a further example of institutional innovation, Ukraine this year became the first country to establish a separate military division dedicated to drone warfare.

Going forward, Ukraine's drone warfare strategy will continue to focus on flexibility, innovation, and the day-to-day challenge of maintaining a technological edge over Russia. Ukrainian leaders know they cannot hope to defeat Russia through a traditional war of attrition and must instead make the most of the agility and technological ingenuity the country has demonstrated since February 2022. As Ukraine's understanding of drone warfare continues to evolve, the outside world will be watching and learning.

David Kirichenko is an associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society.

References

The views expressed in UkraineAlert are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its supporters.

The Eurasia Center's mission is to strengthen transatlantic cooperation to promote stability, democratic values, and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the west to the Caucasus, Russia, and Central Asia in the east.

Support our work by following us on social media

Image: A soldier from the Ukrainian Army's 92nd Brigade Achilles assault drone battalion attaches a shell to a first-person view (FPV) drone at a frontline position during Russia's offensive into Ukraine, Kharkiv region, near the Russian border, June 14, 2024. (REUTERS/Vyacheslav Latynsky)

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/ukraines-innovative-drone-industry-helps-counter-putins-war-machine/ The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos