According to experts, never before have so many remote-controlled vehicles been involved in a conflict. But despite its wide range of uses, the drone is still far from a replacement for traditional weapons.
They are called Orion, Merlin, Black Hornet and Bayraktar and play a crucial role in the Ukraine conflict, for both Kiev and Moscow. As spy cameras, guided missiles and powerful torpedoes, drones are as popular with soldiers as they are feared by the population. For the residents of Odessa or Lviv, for example, it is difficult to forget the muffled hum of the Shahed kamikaze drones that the Russian army fired en masse into their city for a year.
With these means, the war has even penetrated Russian territory, as shown by the numerous attacks reported in Moscow and the surrounding region in recent months. In late August, drones targeted Russia’s Pskov airport, 600 km from northern Ukraine, destroying at least one military aircraft. Heavy damage caused by cheap weapons: According to Ukrainian media, cardboard machines modeled on the Australian Corvo PPDS were used for this mission.
A Ukrainian soldier recovers a surveillance drone near Zapporijia (Ukraine), August 23, 2023. (ANDRE ALVES / ANADOLU AGENCY / AFP)
Thanks to their small size (the Black Hornet mini drone measures only 16 cm), these devices fit anywhere. In Ukraine, they are used so frequently that, according to a study by the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), every 10km section of the front line is typically flown over by “25 to 50 drones from both camps”. Enough to interest armies around the world, who see Ukraine as a vast testing zone.
On the Ukrainian side alone, up to 9,000 drones are lost every month
The amount of drones Ukraine is using to defend against Russian invasion continues to surprise experts. According to Rusi, the Ukrainian army loses around 300 drones per day, or around 9,300 devices per month. “This is outrageous!” assures franceinfo Ulrike Franke, researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations, a study center based in Paris. “The Ukrainians have many systems, including small, inexpensive civilian drones, which can therefore be sacrificed,” she explains.
The most affordable devices Kiev uses are quadcopters (drones with four propellers), originally intended for the general public and typically cost around 500 euros per unit – although the bill for the most robust machines can run up to 15,000 euros. “Thanks to crowdfunding, many drones were bought and made available to the Ukrainians,” says Ulrike Franke. These civilian models are very good at reconnaissance, so each Ukrainian unit has one or even more drone pilots.
These commercially available devices can also be “modified with 3D printers to be able to drop grenades and small grenades on the enemy,” explains Stéphane Audrand, specialized weapons consultant, to franceinfo. Mines can also be installed on FPVs, those extremely maneuverable drones usually designed for racing. The Ukrainian army regularly shares images of booby-trapped explosive devices that can penetrate Russian soldiers’ shelters before exploding.
Unlike most weapons, “drones are generally designed to get lost,” analyzes Ulrike Franke. After “more than 20 years of technological progress,” these devices are now manufactured in many countries, “for example in China, Turkey or Israel,” the specialist remembers. With one notable consequence: they are cheaper and therefore more accessible.
Devices designed for the Ukrainian terrain
Beyond the financial aspect, the popularity of the drone can be explained by the special conditions of the war in Ukraine. The “closure” of the sky to conventional military aviation is primarily “because there are too many anti-aircraft missiles, which makes attacks extremely difficult,” explains Stéphane Audrand. Armed drones are much more stealthy than fighters or bombers and have a better ability to attack behind enemy lines. This is the case with the Bayraktar TB2 on the Ukrainian side, with the Orion on the Russian side, but also with the kamikaze drones that are used in particular by Russia.
In September, Moscow’s armed forces sent a record number of drones of this type to Ukraine: 503 kamikaze devices, according to a count by the trade magazine Defense Express. That is twice as many as the previous record, which was 246 drones in July. These Shahed 136 devices are supplied to Russia from Iran. But Vladimir Putin’s regime, “which uses these drones like missiles,” explains Ulrike Franke, wants to produce its own devices. 6,000 kamikaze drones must leave Russian factories by the summer of 2025, as the Washington Post announced in mid-August.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky poses with a Shahed-136 suicide drone shot down by the Ukrainian army in Kiev, Ukraine, on October 27, 2022. (UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIALITY)
The drone has also proven to be particularly effective in the trench warfare that has been raging in Ukraine since May 2022. From the trenches around the destroyed city of Bakhmut to the front line along the Dnieper River, these devices constantly scan enemy positions. “This is certainly the first use of the drone, holding and knowing the front,” remembers Stéphane Audrand. In the search for the smallest movements of Russian troops, the Ukrainian army has become “one of the most ‘droneized’ in the world,” explains the consultant.
“A new stage has been reached with Ukraine”
The massive use of drones appears to have reshuffled the cards in military strategy. “A new stage has been reached with Ukraine,” believes Stéphane Audrand, who describes “a movement of deepening of the battlefield.” From now on, “everyone has to be careful” and soldiers “are no longer safe up to 100 km from the front,” he explains.
“Each department can attack from the rear. The tactical command posts must constantly move. It is a conflict in which no one can find peace.”
Stéphane Audrand, weapons specialist
at franceinfo
The same observation also applies to the navy, “because Ukraine also has very interesting naval drones,” remembers Ulrike Franke. In November 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced with great fanfare the creation of the “world’s first fleet” of armed watercraft. Since then, it has been difficult to know where this project is. In fact, Kiev was much more discreet when several naval drones struck ships in the Russian base of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea at the beginning of August.
“The zone of impunity is also shrinking at sea,” emphasizes Stéphane Audrand. “We can no longer get within 150 or 200 nautical miles.” [entre 278 et 370 km] On a coast.” For the specialist, drones have “democratized depth attacks,” and it would be unimaginable to do without them, for Kiev as well as for Moscow.
The drone has become “indispensable, but not central”.
However, should we make these remotely controlled devices the core of a military strategy? Above all, warns Ulrike Franke. “We have the impression that this system is central, but in fact it complements the other means,” she adds. “Not all operations are organized around drones, emphasizes Stéphane Audrand. Yes, they occupy a space we have never seen before, important… but not central.”
Also be careful not to overstate the importance of these remote-controlled devices in the conflict. The drones share their heroic deeds with their onboard cameras. This does not apply to artillery shells, which nevertheless “cause half the casualties on the battlefield,” recalls Stéphane Audrand.
“There has always been a certain fascination with these devices that some people have at home. But we can’t forget the tanks and the artillery… You can’t win a war with drones.”
Ulrike Franke, researcher at the European Council on Foreign Affairs
at franceinfo
Very effective at the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, the drone did not remain a silver bullet for long. The Russian army has actually developed effective means to disrupt the systems of Ukrainian aircraft “by creating navigation interference (…) as electronic protection,” Rusi explains in his report. As for the Kiev forces, the old German Gepard tanks proved particularly dangerous against the Russian-launched machines, earning them the nickname “drone killers.”
A metal detector drone used for demining in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, October 1, 2023. (SERGEY BOBOK / AFP)
Nevertheless, the massive use of drones in Ukraine remains “a case study for all armies, a testing ground for innovations,” admits Ulrike Franke. “The conflict has particularly woken up Westerners, who don’t have many drones and only a few different models,” she explains. In France, the arms giant Nexter-KNDS explain For example, we are still in the “studies” stage of these machines.
Ukrainians are already accustomed to these devices, which are likely to remain ubiquitous even after hostilities hypothetically end. In fact, whether land-based or flying, drones are increasingly being used for demining missions that experts say could last “decades.”