Photo: RBC
The war in Ukraine is entering a new technological stage where the key factor for victory is the scale and speed of producing and deploying unmanned systems, according to Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Syrskyi said the conflict has moved into a phase in which the expansion of so-called “kill zones” is directly linked to the growing capabilities of strike drones. Against this backdrop, Russia is increasingly losing the initiative, particularly on southern sections of the front.
According to intelligence reports, by April 1 Russia plans to increase the number of personnel in its unmanned systems units to 101,000 troops. The occupiers are already capable of producing more than 19,000 FPV drones per day.
Despite Russia’s growing production capacity, Ukraine’s Defense Forces maintain an advantage in the use of multirotor FPV drones. In February alone, Ukrainian drones struck more than 105,200 enemy targets.
Among other results:
- about 4,200 positions of Russian drone operators were destroyed;
- the development of fiber-optic-controlled drones is actively expanding;
- ground robotic systems carried out more than 2,300 logistics and combat missions during the month.
To counter Russian drone attacks, special UAV interceptor platoons are being created within Ukrainian units. Their task is to destroy enemy quadcopters and strike drones using anti-drone rifles, electronic warfare systems and net launchers.
Syrskyi stressed that the development of unmanned systems is task number one, as it directly reduces the burden on infantry on the battlefield.
He also noted that the digitalization of defense procurement has significantly accelerated the supply of equipment to frontline units. In seven months of the DOT-Chain Defence system’s operation, the Defense Forces received about 500,000 units of equipment, fundamentally changing the approach to supplying the front.
Earlier, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence of Ukraine reported a major increase in purchases from domestic manufacturers. Over the past year, the share of Ukrainian-made products in military procurement rose from 46% to 82%, while the share of imports dropped to 18%.
