The Ukrainian military’s adoption of more affordable and compact drones has permanently changed the landscape of modern warfare, according to operators and experts speaking with The New York Post. Unlike the massive, expensive drones used by nations such as the United States, which cost hundreds of millions of dollars, Ukraine’s aerial strikes against Russian forces are carried out with basic kamikaze drones priced between $300 and $1,000.
Andrii Federov, co-founder and CEO of Nomad Drones, a Ukrainian company, told The New York Post on Wednesday that a small drone, weighing just 6.5 pounds and available at any hobby shop, can be loaded with explosives strong enough to destroy an armored vehicle.
“If you hit it smartly in the vulnerable parts of a tank, you can even destroy a tank,” Federov said. “So basically, you can cause far more damage for a low cost.” He went on to add, “I think it changes pretty much everything. This is modern warfare.”
Drones are commonly used in military conflicts, with the United States being a notable user, employing them for airstrikes against terrorist targets in countries like Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, and Syria. Since the US military withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, drones have become central to American “over the horizon” operations, which are carried out without deploying troops close to the target area.
What distinguishes Ukraine’s use of drones is the type of aircraft they deploy, which are typically small, measuring between eight and twelve inches, and their ability to be produced rapidly. Nomad Drones alone manufactures “thousands” of drones every month, with a team of around 60 employees, though Federov refrained from providing specific production numbers due to security concerns.
The surge in Ukraine’s drone usage was partly driven by necessity. With artillery shells becoming increasingly hard to obtain—due to slow production rates from American and European defense industries—Ukraine adapted by creating its own drone production system using locally sourced materials.
One of the major advantages of drones over traditional artillery is their versatility. While kamikaze drones are designed to crash into targets and explode, others can drop bombs and return to their operator, and some are used for reconnaissance, allowing Ukraine to gather intelligence without sending troops into perilous situations.
Ukraine isn’t the only party using drones in the conflict. Russia has launched nightly assaults with Shahed drones made in Iran. On one occasion last Saturday, Moscow sent 267 drones into Ukrainian airspace, marking the largest number since the Kremlin began its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
However, unlike Russia, which has to source its drones from abroad, Ukraine has developed a robust domestic industry. Mykhailo Federov, the Minister of Digitization of Ukraine, told The Post that he expects Ukraine to become a major exporter of drone technology after the war. “This will become a really big and new sphere for our economy, for our budget, for the revenue of Ukraine. And this it really can be like a export oriented here,” said Mykhailo Federov (unrelated to Andrii). “Exporting abroad could become the basis for win-win relations with other countries.”
This development could benefit the United States, which is currently overly reliant on China for its drone supply. “In terms of [the Ukrainian] drones industry, in the last year there have been over 1.5 million drones developed in Ukraine,” the minister noted. “We have over 500 manufacturers of drones right now, and in this year we will purchase and deliver even more drones in the last year.”
Another advantage of drones is the ability to produce many of their components using 3D printing technology, which makes it much easier to resupply on the battlefield. Eddie Etue, a US Marine veteran and former fighter with the Ukraine Foreign Legion, explained that 3D printing offers significant benefits in the field. “It’s a benefit to be able to 3D print so many of the necessary parts because it affords us the opportunity to fabricate this stuff at will, increasing efficiency on the battlefield where you often work with what you’ve got,” Etue told The Post. “You just need a 3D printer, filament, and the STL [design] file.”
Since leaving the frontlines last summer, Etue has focused on drone building in Kyiv. He has transformed his living room into a volunteer drone workshop funded by his monthly VA pension. In this space, even simple plastic water bottles are repurposed to create bomb containers.
“All of this is just putting pieces together, you just need a wiring diagram and to know the pieces that are compatible,” Etue said. He can assemble one drone per day and has built approximately 25 drones for deployment to the frontlines. “But all this is is like paint by numbers with colored wires and molten lead.”
{Matzav.com}
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