KIEV, Ukraine — Surrounded by rooms filled with cluster bombs and half-finished thermobaric bombs, a soldier with Ukraine’s 92nd Mechanized Brigade recently worked on the tail end of a deadly supply chain that stretches from Chinese factories to a basement 8 kilometers from the front of the war with Russia.
It is here that Ukrainian soldiers convert commercial drones into combat weapons. On a desk, a soldier attached a modified battery to a quadcopter so it could fly greater distances. Pilots would later zip-tie a spell projectile to the underside and crash the devices into Russian trenches and tanks, turning the drones into human-guided missiles.
Aerial vehicles have been so effective in combat that most of the rotors and frames filling the shop would be sold out in a matter of a week.
Searching for new supplies has become a full-time task. “At night we carry out bombing missions and during the day we think about how to get new dronessaid Oles Maliarevych, 44, an officer in the 92nd Mechanized Brigade.
More than any conflict in history, the fighting in Ukraine is a drone war. That means depending on suppliers. Although Iran and Turkey produce large, military-grade drones used by Russia and Ukraine, the cheap commercial drones that have become ubiquitous on the front lines come mostly from China.
That has given China hidden influence in the war. As the Ukrainians rebuild drones into weapons, they have had to keep up with their supplies. But Chinese suppliers have reduced their sales, as new Chinese rules restricting the export of drone components came into effect last month.
For almost a decade, Chinese companies such as DJI, EHang and Autel have been manufacturing drones on an increasing scale. They produce millions of devices a year, far surpassing other countries. DJI has a more than 90 percent share of the global commercial drone market, said DroneAnalyst, a research group.
However, in recent months, Chinese companies have reduced sales of drones and components to Ukrainians, an analysis by The New York Times found. Chinese firms willing to sell often require buyers to use networks of intermediaries.
Ukraine loses about 10,000 drones a month, said the Royal United Services Institute, a British security think tank. Many fear that new Chinese rules restricting the sale of drone components will worsen problems in the Ukrainian supply chain ahead of winter.
These obstacles extend an advantage for Russia. Direct shipments of drones by Chinese companies to Ukraine totaled just over $200,000 this year as of June. In that same period, Russia received 14.5 million dollars in direct shipments. Ukraine still received millions of dollars worth of Chinese-made drones and components, but most came from European intermediaries, customs data shows.
The Ukrainians are working to build drones for reconnaissance, to drop bombs and to use as guided missiles.
In the first weeks of the war, Ukrainian soldiers relied on the Mavic, an easy-to-use quadcopter produced by DJI. In April 2022, DJI announced that it would discontinue sales in Russia and Ukraine. Instead, volunteers brought the quadcopters by the thousands to Ukraine, often from Europe. Russia found new channels through friendly neighbors while continuing to receive drones via Chinese exporters.
Also seen on the front lines this year: amateur racing drones with bombs attached to serve as human-guided missiles.
Known as FPVs, or first-person view flight — a reference to how drones are piloted remotely with virtual reality-type goggles — the devices and their components are sold by a few companies, mostly Chinese, such as DJI, Autel and RushFPV.
Away from the front, volunteers and companies are working to acquire as many FPVs as possible, with Ukrainian suppliers saying soldiers probably need up to 30,000 a month.
Ukrainians compete with Russians to buy FPVs from Chinese firms. The Russians often have the advantage because they can bid higher sums and order larger lots. Selling to the Russians is also politically safer for Chinese companies.
PAUL MOZUR AND VALERIE HOPKINS. THE NEW YORK TIMES
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6921993, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-10-04 18:40:06
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