Ukraine's homegrown drones have become increasingly lethal, critical tools in war with Russia
CBC
Ukraine has honed its army of drones to the point where these tools have become one of its most potent weapons in fighting back against Russia's full-scale invasion of its borders.
"Right now, the situation on the battlefield is really dependent on drones, and they are responsible for a very significant percentage of the kills on the battlefield," Mykhailo Fedorov, the vice-prime minister of innovation, told CBC News via a translator.
How significant? A recent report from two research fellows at the London-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) suggests Ukraine's attack drones now account for the majority of Russian losses on the battlefield — and they can be especially lethal when paired with artillery.
These results explain why Ukraine scaled up procurement levels from what Fedorov says started out as thousands of these devices in 2022, up to more than 1.5 million last year.
Fedorov and other officials say virtually all of Ukraine's FPV (first-person view) attack drones are domestically produced at this point. "Ninety-nine per cent," he said Friday.
And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the country has built up the capacity to produce four million drones a year.
As the all-out war reaches the three-year mark on Monday, Ukraine finds itself with less assured support from the United States, since U.S. President Donald Trump's inauguration last month. Amid this uncertainty, the fight against the Russian invasion continues, and Kyiv appears inclined to sustain its technology-led approach to the war, given what it faces on the other side of the front lines.
"In principle, right now, we are fighting a drone war," Fedorov said.
Despite Ukraine's successes with these tools, the situation on the ground — or in the air or sea, depending on the type of drone — is constantly changing.
"The battlefield shifts and changes every day," Fedorov said.
He said private companies have played a key role in driving the drone innovations that have rolled out in Ukraine, as they collect feedback from the men and women on the battlefield and adjust the products accordingly.
"Changes happen literally each week," Fedorov said.
Oleksandra Molloy, a senior lecturer in aviation at Australia's University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra, said that the world is watching what Ukraine is doing with drones.
"Ukrainians' advancements in these drone technologies are inspiring a global shift in the perception of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) in warfare — through ingenuity, adaptability and also relentless pursuit of innovation," Molloy said in an interview.
