Autonomous or remotely controlled vehicles, drones, have grown in numbers and are now an essential component of the force structure of modern militaries. They came into prominence during the “War on Terror” with a dramatic rise in their use under President Obama to conduct Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) strikes. Previous to this, remote controlled platforms had been employed in limited use cases such as mine countermeasure and bomb disposal. With the introduction of the MQ-1 Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle in 1995, drones went from a niche mission set to a platform that could conduct missions previously limited to piloted aircraft such as reconnaissance and strike missions. Other militaries around the world took notice and started to develop drone capabilities. These drones have played a significant role in the War in Ukraine. This article will look at the types of drones being used in Ukraine as well as their tactical employment. The War in Ukraine represents one of the first times where drones of similar capability have been employed on both sides of the battlefield. Learning from their operational experience can help western militaries guide the development of their own drone programs to employ them more effectively in the future.
Compared to modern US, Chinese and Turkish UAVs, Russia has been lagging behind in the development and production of such drones. In Ukraine, two different drones have been employed by the Russian force in a strike capability, the Forpost-R and the Kronshtadt Orion. The Forpost-R is a Russian developed version of the IAI Searcher. The Kronshtadt Orion is a Russian developed drone with similar capabilities to Forpost-R.
Both the Orion and Forpost-R are able to use Kornet anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) and KAB-20 munitions. The Kornet ATGM has not been seeing employed within Ukraine. Rather, more often, footage has shown that these drones are using either the KAB-20 or unguided bombs. While the KAB-20 can potentially have similar accuracy to the Turkish MAM-L, since they both use laser guidance, it has so far fallen short of achieving this.
While Russia has had limited success with armed drones, smaller drones such as the Orlan-10 have been used in large numbers for reconnaissance and surveillance operations with greater success . Even so, the technical complexity implied in a teardown of a captured Orlan-10 show that drone technology has a long way to go within the Russian military.
The Ukrainian military has comparatively used drones to much greater effect. Thanks to an existing inventory of Turkish made Bayraktar TB-2 drones, the Ukranian military was able to quickly start employing them in operations. The TB-2s were initially used to disable short-range air-defense systems and then began to be employed for reconnaissance and close-air support. TB-2 drones have managed to destroy a number of high value Russian units.
Comparing the confirmed equipment destroyed by Russian versus the Ukrainian military using drones, keeping in mind the unreliability of this data, we see that the Ukrainian military has been extremely effective in employing their drone force. Along with the TB-2 drones, the Aerorozvidka unit, have been able to repurpose commercial drones to conduct harassment of Russian military columns. As well, the Ukranian military have also employed Bayraktar mini UAVs to conduct reconnaissance and spotting for artillery units. The success of the Ukrainian drone program has meant that doubling down, as the US is doing, by supplying additional drones such as the RQ-20 Puma and the Switchblade loitering munition is likely to have a significant effect on the war effort.
We have seen how both sides of the Ukrainian war have employed drones to support the main war effort. The Russian forces have struggled with embracing drone technology and have tended to rely on traditional platforms such as attack helicopters like the Ka-52 and Mi-28(N). This might be because of a lack of inventory and specialized units to operate these units. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military has demonstrated remarkable proficiency with drone operations. The TB-2 has taken on a legendary status and has changed the notion of how modern-day conflicts are fought. The air superiority fight between the Russian and Ukrainian air force has lasted throughout the war and has meant that the Ukraine forces have been able to employ drones to support the ground fight. As the conflict evolves further, hopefully ends, it will be interesting to see how the use of drones evolves.