Thousands of drones are being used in the Ukraine war to detect enemy positions, launch missiles and directly fire artillery.
Both sides are deploying purpose-built military drones and widely sold commercial drones.
What military drones do Ukraine and Russia have?
Ukraine’s main military drone is the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2. It is about the size of a small plane, has cameras on board, and can be armed with laser-guided bombs.
Ukraine started the war with a fleet of “less than 50” of these, says Jack Watling of the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) think tank.
Russia mainly uses the “smaller and more basic” Orlan-10, he explains. “Russia started the war with a few thousand of them, and may have a few hundred left.”
These drones also have cameras and can carry small bombs.
How effective are military drones?
Drones from both sides are most effective when used to find enemy targets and guide artillery fire towards them.
“Russian forces can turn their weapons on the enemy in just three to five minutes after an Orlan-10 drone detects a target,” says Watling.
Without them, an attack could take 20 to 30 minutes to complete, he adds.
Martina Miron, a defense studies researcher at King’s College London, says drones have allowed Ukraine to stretch its limited forces.
“In the past, if you wanted to search for enemy positions you had to send special forces units to do it and you could lose some soldiers,” he says. “Now all you’re risking is a drone.”
In the first weeks of the war, Ukraine’s Bayraktar drones were widely praised.
“They were shown attacking targets like ammunition dumps, and they played a part in sinking the [buque de guerra] Moscow,” says Miron.
However, many Bayraktars have been destroyed by Russian air defense systems.
“They’re big, they’re relatively slow moving, and they fly only at a medium height, which makes them easy to shoot down,” says Watling.
How are non-military drones used?
Military drones are expensive to replace: a single Bayraktar TB2 costs around $2 million.
So both sides, but especially Ukraine, are turning to small business models, like the DJI Mavic 3, which costs around $2,000.
A Ukrainian drone manufacturer estimates that the country’s forces have 6,000 drones, but it is impossible to confirm this.
Commercial drones can be equipped with small bombs.
However, they are mainly used to detect enemy troops and direct attacks.
“Ukraine doesn’t have as much ammunition as Russia,” says Miron. “Having ‘eyes in the sky’ to spot targets and direct artillery fire means they can make better use of what they have.”
Commercial drones are much less powerful than military ones.
The range of the DJI Mavic is only 30 km and it can only fly for 46 minutes.
Cheaper and smaller drones fly for even less time and cover shorter distances.
How does each side defend against the drones?
Russia uses radar defenses against military drones and electronic devices against commercial ones, says Martina Miron.
“The Russian forces have the Stupor rifle, which fires electromagnetic pulses,” he adds. This prevents commercial drones from being able to navigate using GPS.
Russian forces have also used online systems like Aeroscope to detect and disrupt communications between commercial drones and their operators.
They can cause the drone to crash or return to base, and they can prevent it from sending information.
The average Ukrainian drone barely lasts a week, according to a Rusi report.
Who are supplying drones?
Russia is now buying Shahid military drones from Iran, according to the White House.
Houthi rebel forces in Yemen used them to attack targets in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The United States is supplying Ukraine with about 700 Switchblade “kamikaze” military drones.
These are loaded with explosives. They float in the air until they find their target.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX company is providing its Starlink satellite communications system to Ukraine. This creates a secure link between commercial drones and operators.
DJI has now stopped supplying drones to Russia or Ukraine.
How does Ukraine pay for drones?
Ukraine has placed a crowdfunding request to purchase 200 military drones.
“In addition to large drones like the [Bayraktar] TB2, they’re looking at small, fixed-wing reconnaissance drones,” says Jack Watling.
Kalush Orchestra, the Ukrainian group that won the Eurovision Song Contest, sold the trophy for US$900,000 which they donated to the drone campaign. With that, three Ukrainian-made PD-2 drones will be purchased.
Now you can receive notifications from BBC World. Download the new version of our app and activate it so you don’t miss out on our best content.
BBC-NEWS-SRC: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-internacional-62279288, IMPORTING DATE: 2022-07-28 05:20:05
#crucial #role #drones #Ukraine #war #supplies