One of the most defining characteristics of the Russo-Ukrainian war is the proliferation of man-portable drones. These come in the forms of observation drones as well as FPV drones. The most important thing about these devices is that they are cheap and devastatingly effective. Drones allow significantly more observation of the battlefield allowing much more accurate and deadly attacks from either artillery or FPV drones while minimizing risk to the operator. Although drones have been used since the opening days of the invasion, now in 2024 they are everywhere. Drones have become one of the leading causes of casualties for both sides along with artillery. No matter how you look at it, drones are a piece of technology that is here to stay for better or for worse. 

Drones, in some form or another, were first used in the first world war. Planes controlled by radio were used by the United States and Britain to train pilots for air to air combat. Although these planes never saw combat it is interesting to see that we have had this technology for a long time. This would change in the Vietnam war when drones were used for launching missiles for the first time. With this being said drones really came into the public eye with the advent of the reaper drone in the global war on terror. The reaper drone was a fixed wing large drone with a propeller that was used for direct air strikes. The reaper became infamous for its destruction of civilian targets and non combatants. In this time of the global war on terror, we begin to see the use of man-portable drones. American special forces began deploying quad copter drones similar to the ones in use now in Ukraine. These drones were exclusively used for observation purposes. Teams would use one of these drones to scout out an area before committing human life to the mission. Eventually these drones would also be outfitted with thermal imaging devices vastly improving their capabilities. Now a team of operatives can scout out an entire village, know exactly who is there, what their capabilities are and plan an attack, all while not risking a single life. The only thing at stake being the $1000 drone. Moreover they would not have to rely on fixed wing or rotary aircraft to do their observation for them. In the foot-hills of Afghanistan and the deserts of Iraq, man-portable drones really proved that they were the ultimate piece of technology for surveying the battlefield. 

From what we have seen in Ukraine, there are two types of drones, observation drones and FPV drones. Observation drones are typically DJI drones bought from online although there are a few other brands in use. DJI is favored because of its superior camera technology as well as ease of recording. Although early in the war, observation drones have been used to drop munitions, this role has largely been taken over by FPV drones today. FPV drones are first person view drones, initially intended for racing. These drones are maneuverable, can go incredibly fast and are extremely cheap costing around $300. In fact, they are so cheap that in December of 2023, Ukraine alone produced 50,000 FPV drones for combat use. FPV drones are typically outfitted with a RPG warhead or a 40mm grenade. The low price tag means in some sectors FPV drones are favored over artillery as they are much more precise and result in far more casualties per dollar. These effective devices are used essentially as human guided missiles. They dive on targets in a suicide attack destroying the intended target as well as the drone. FPV drones have led to some of the most disturbing footage of war ever seen. The fact that a soldier can be standing guard and with almost no warning be blown up by a drone going forty miles per hour is nothing short of horrifying. FPV drones are also used against vehicles such as tanks, BMPs and BTRs. Typically observation drones will spot possible enemy positions, mark it on a map and then call in FPV drones. These attacks will either be a few drones at a time or, depending on the capabilities of the unit, an entire swarm of FPV drones. Soldiers under a swarm of FPV drones have to seek shelter in a bunker or have an almost 0% chance of surviving. An experienced FPV pilot can even maneuver drones through trenches and into fortified positions. The use of these drones not only allow for a cheap and cost effective way of killing the enemy, but also priceless propaganda potential. All over the front on both sides, units are uploading footage of their best drone kills onto Telegram or other social media sites. These videos precipitate down to Instagram, Youtube and Twitter creating another piece of propaganda for the information war. 

Although drones are by far one of the most terrifying military technologies we have seen in a long time, they can be countered relatively easily. The most prevalent counter is jammers. Jammers work by interfering with the signal of the drone pilot to the drone itself. This typically results in the drone flying into the radius of a jammer and falling right out of the sky. In more fortified and dug in positions, it is imperative that they are outfitted with jamming devices. Even though jammers offer such capabilities, it is important to remember that drone warfare is still an arms race and thus drones themselves are starting to have a counter to jammers. Some units who are more technologically savvy are able to counter the jamming signal by simply pumping more signal from the pilot to the drone. Even though this doesn’t always work it has before and could open the door to more advanced technology in the near future. The more archaic and surefire counters to drones are shotguns. Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been seen more and more with old hunting shotguns loaded with birdshot to counter drones. The idea is very simple and effective. Birdshot is a type of shotgun shell that is full of a lot of very small bbs. Birdshot is mostly ineffective against humans and is primarily used for bird hunting or skeet shooting, also apparently drones. Some other more passive options include a scanner that can detect the signal of a drone overhead. This alerts the user and gives him time to seek shelter and avoid being spotted or targeted. There do exist more sophisticated methods of drone jamming such as electronic warfare systems that can completely disconnect the drones signal, but these systems exist in too small a number and are too expensive to see wide scale use. There are quite a few ways to counter drones on the battlefield, but the important takeaway is that drone and counter drone warfare is an ongoing arms race and will continue to develop every day there is fighting. 

With this rapidly developing platform of weapons it is important to speculate what role drones will play in the future. The most unlikely but possibly best option is that drones are outlawed in war similar to chemical agents. Although this possibility is unlikely it is not completely ruled out as the precedent exists to ban weapons that cause a horrific amount of suffering. The more likely outcome is that developed militaries such as the United States, China and European nations will come to rely on drones for observation and munitions delivery just as we see in the current conflict in Ukraine. Drones simply offer so many benefits over other weapons and recon tools that they have cemented themselves as a cornerstone of modern warfare. Of course we will see cheaper and more sophisticated means of counter drone warfare as well as more secure drones that are harder to jam. One of the more bleak possibilities is the implementation of artificial intelligence into drones. The concept of drones having on board AI that is capable of detecting human shape or signs of enemies seems to be an inevitability. With how fast artificial intelligence is developing it is not entirely out of the realm of possibility for this to become a reality. In fact some AI systems are already in use in Ukraine, most notably the Russian Sosna-N system. The Sosna-N is an AI controlled anti sniper device. It can detect perfect circles like that of a sniper’s optics and mark it on a map for other units to see. It can also blind the sniper by sending a high power laser into his optic striking his eye. The Sosna-N has a range of up to three kilometers and has seen some use in the war in Ukraine. It only weighs 4.4 kilograms and is typically mounted to armored vehicles. Although it is too cumbersome to be mounted to a drone right now, considering the breakneck speeds that AI is going, it's only a matter of time until systems like these are airborne. 

The war in Ukraine has become a proving ground for drone warfare. Even though drones have been used in war far before the February 2022 invasion, the scale has not even been close to what we see now. Man-portable drones allow unrivaled surveillance of the battlefield as well as an inexpensive guided missile system in the form of FPV drones. Drones also offer an endless amount of propaganda potential from the footage of strikes being carried out. Overall drones have cemented themselves as a thing of the future for warfare and nations all around the world are watching and learning. 


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