In arms key, the war in Ukraine has become the stage of An unprecedented military transformationwith The battle of drones redefining modern combat. If in the first months there by 2022 the clashes were fought with rifles and machine guns in the trees lines, today the battlefield is dominated by Kamikaze drone swarms and precision attacks. In the last dates, these attacks are, if possible, more and more deranged.
A new form of war. Guardian counted earlier this year In an extensive report that along the front line, the Russian and Ukrainian troops They are now attacked from kilometers away with those swarms of first -person drones (FPV). We have told it before. They are small but lethal devicesequipped with up to a kilogram of explosives, which have changed the nature of combat.
“It’s like the work of a sniper”, explained to the British environment Dimaanother Ukrainian soldier, while showing him a video on his phone of an FPV chasing patiently to a Russian soldier before impacting it with lethal precision.
The democratization of air attack. The result is that in the conflict there are no safe sites. The accessibility and effectiveness of these flying devices have democratized air power, allowing any unit, even without support from the Air Force, can execute precision attacks. In this regard, Samuel Bendett, drone expert at the Naval Analysis Centerhe said that the FPV went from being a novelty in 2022 to become the main offensive tool in 2023 and Today they completely dominate tactical space.
Speed, capacity to operate at night, reach up to 20 km or extremely low operating costs make them the perfect weapon between guerrillas. Nothing on the battlefield is completely safe. Drones force armored vehicles to move quicklylimit the time that troops can remain in one place and have become obsolete many conventional tactics. From there The erratic tactical of North Korean troops.
“Mother” drones throwing drones against other drones. One of the most recent strategies on the battlefield has been The use of “mother” drones. We talk about large unmanned aerial vehicles capable of transporting and deploying small kamikaze drones in full flight. This tactic allows to extend the attack range of FPV dronesletting them fall behind enemy lines without exhausting their limited battery before reaching the goal.
In fact, in a recently documented case, a Ukrainian mother drone was Capture on video by launching a small explosive drone against a Russian recognition dronedemonstrating that unmanned air war is no longer only between combat and missile aircraft, but between drone swarms of different categories.
Armed drones: rifles shotguns. Since the beginning of the conflict, the Ukrainians have experienced with “Vitamin” drones, either with explosives, grenades or even missiles. However, in recent months they have made significant advances in the use of firearms mounted directly in aerial and terrestrial drones. For example, They have developed FPV drones capable of firing double cannon shotgunsdirectly facing Russian drones in air combat. Despite the recoil problem, engineers have improved drone stability, allowing him to shoot multiple times without losing control (a video recently showed one of these drones Broving three Russian drones before shooting an enemy soldier on land).
Or with assault rifles. Despite the difficulty in maintaining precision in flight, tests have been carried out with AK-74 mounted on drones, able to shoot bursts against Russian trenches. Apparently, This type of drones has not yet been displayed by massbut it is part of a growing trend of using them as combat platforms with conventional firearms.
Armed terrestrial drones. They counted in Arstechnica This week that one of the most outstanding innovations is El Burya, a land drone of caterpillars equipped with a launching turret able to shoot up to 64 grenades at a distance of 100 meters.
Its characteristics: A gyroscopic shooting and stabilization control software to improve aim, mass production and currently in first -line use. Plus: In the future it is expected to be integrated with air recognition drones, allowing to receive coordinates of real -time objectives.
New tactics for electronic warfare. Even Drones have developed with retractable claw species or magnetsdesigned to capture and steal enemy drones in full flight, a concept that reminds the hook machines of the Arcade Games, of course, in a war context where Drones can disarm their adversaries in the air.
Another recent development is The Pliushch, an unintended land drone but equipped with a 10 -meter communications mast. Its function is to serve as a radio repeater on the battlefield, extending the communication signal to advanced units. In addition, it can operate as a mobile electronic war station, interfering with the enemy’s signs.
And drones with optical fiber. The last of the applications We count it recently. The electronic war has become so intense in the front line that many drones have been useless by signal blockages and Russian interference systems. To counteract this, Ukraine has begun to use drones with optical fibera formula that prevents detection by not emitting electromagnetic signals.
Image | National Police of Ukraine
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