Ukraine drone wars more effective than Russian
A Ukrainian soldier said his unit has not shot their rifles in six months, with the focus heavily on drone warfare.
Valentyn Ilchuk, the leader of what he called a three-man "hunter-killer crew," has been sharing his military exploits on Facebook from the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, where the Ukrainian counteroffensive is making slow progress.
Ilchuk's unit uses self-exploding drones to target Russian positions far behind the front lines, and he told Metro newspaper that these weapons are the future of modern warfare.
"If you ask me what war will be like in five to 10 years, there will be far fewer rifles," he said.
"Sometimes we joke about having to drag our rifles around with us because, in half a year, we haven't shot them once," he told the outlet, adding: "This is the future of warfare: shooting drones at each other rather than bullets or shells."
Ilchuk and his unit have proved creative with their drones, attaching grenades and carrying a larger payload, per the outlet.
They've also used DJI Mavic quadcopters and agricultural drones as bombers, the outlet reported.
However, Ilchuk said the weapons provided by Ukraine's defense ministry can only take them so far, according to a Facebook post. As a result, he has launched a fundraising drive to buy more drones, batteries, munition drop systems, reconnaissance drones, and other "much-needed" equipment.
Russian and Ukrainian forces have leaned heavily into using drones in the current conflict, both for reconnaissance as well as for carrying explosive payloads.
Last Friday, the Ukrainian energy company Okko published footage showing Ukraine's military using a single drone with a high optical zoom to locate the positions of Russian surface-to-air defenses, which were then destroyed with HIMARS.
Recent drone assaults in Russia have also called into question the country's ostensibly sophisticated air defense systems, which are struggling to deal with smaller, difficult-to-detect drones.
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One of the many benefits of drones is they do not risk the death of pilots and the destruction of much more expensive aircraft. Ukraine has been much more effective with its smaller drones than Russia has been using the much larger Iranian drones. This war has advanced the use of drones much more than earlier US use of more expensive drones mainly for taking video of enemy locations and then sending in manned bombers. However, Ukraine has also effectively used the British Storm Shadow missiles on larger targets.
British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles were the key element of a highly sophisticated Ukrainian air and sea attack this week that represented the most powerful strike against Crimea since the war began. The missiles hit a Kilo Class attack submarine and a large amphibious landing ship in the Russian-occupied port of Sevastopol, and likely caused significant damage to dock facilities. Disabling of the latter vessel was a particular blow for Moscow as these ships are critical for supply from Russia into Crimea following successive attacks on the Kerch Bridge.
When the UK first sent Storm Shadows to Ukraine, armchair experts derided their capabilities, suggesting they were only second best to US equivalents. That is certainly not the view in Kyiv. Most people I have met here in recent days – from senior military commanders and politicians to the man in the street – are hugely grateful for Britain’s support in their war effort. “Storm Shadow” is now a familiar phrase in the Ukrainian lexicon.
Nor is it the view in Moscow, which has been targeting runways and air bases utilised by the planes that are used to launch Storm Shadow. These missiles have inflicted severe damage to Russian command posts and logistics dumps deep behind the front lines. And last month they were used to strike key bridges linking the Russian land corridor in occupied Ukraine to Crimea, disrupting supply lines.
With a range of 150 miles, Storm Shadow and its French equivalent, Scalp, are rare in being Western-supplied weapons that can reach into Crimea from behind current Ukrainian lines. This is believed to be the first strike on the peninsula itself by Storm Shadow. Along with previous attacks against Russian naval facilities on the Black Sea and on the Kerch Bridge, it has caused serious disruption to Putin’s strategy. Moscow will now have to redeploy scarce air defence assets to Crimea to protect against future attacks, increasing vulnerability in other critical areas.
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See, also:
Army of Drones shows video of uncrewed surface vessels can attack ships and bridges
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Video animation shows Ukraine has uncrewed surface vessels with a length of 5.6 metres and a weight of 1 tonne at its disposal. Such a drone can carry a payload of 200 kg and accelerate to 81 km/h.
Such drones are controlled remotely, and their operation time is up to 61 hours.
The video shows that uncrewed surface vessels can attack ships and bases of the bridge connecting Russia with the occupied Crimea.
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And:
Ukrainian forces report strikes on two Russian ships in Black Sea
And:
Satellite images show damage to Russian naval vessels struck in Ukraine attack
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And ISW reports:
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Ukrainian forces struck a Russian air defense system near occupied Yevpatoria, Crimea, on September 14, suggesting that there may be systemic tactical failures with Russian air defense systems in occupied Crimea. The Department of Strategic Communications of the Ukrainian Armed Forces stated that Ukrainian forces struck the location of a Russian surface-to-air missile system near Yevpatoria (68km northwest of Sevastopol).[5] Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported that a source affiliated with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) stated that the SBU and the Ukrainian Navy conducted a “unique special operation” that destroyed a Russian S-400 “Triumf” system near Yevpatoria.[6] Ukrainian forces reportedly struck the S-400 system’s radar and antennas with drones and struck the launch complexes with two Neptune cruise missiles.[7] The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) reported that Russian air defenses intercepted 11 Ukrainian drones over Crimea but did not mention any Ukrainian missile strikes.[8] Geolocated footage published on September 14 shows an explosion near Yevpatoria and subsequent smoke plumes in the area.[9] Additional geolocated footage shows that Russian forces had recently deployed an S-400 battery outside of Yevpatoria and that the explosion occurred in the same location where a Russian S-400 system had been deployed in August 2022.[10] The strike suggests that Russian forces were unprepared to intercept missiles with the system or were unable to do so. Ukrainian forces struck a Russian S-400 air defense system near Olenivka, Crimea (117km northwest of Sevastopol) on August 23, and the second Ukrainian strike on a significant Russian air defense system in recent weeks indicates that such tactical failures may reflect a wider systemic issue with Russian air defenses in occupied Crimea.[11]
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