Drone warfare, fiction made true. Not so long ago, these flying robots were the subject of foresight. With the war in Ukraine, his role now goes beyond what experts and soldiers imagined. They have entered the heart of Ukraine’s military strategy, which has created a specialized unit made up of more than 2,000 soldiers trained in piloting, launching explosive devices or even transforming civilian models into military devices. And this mutation occurred with lightning speed.
From February 24
Intelligence, surveillance, guidance of artillery fire or launch of kamikaze attacks such as launching explosives. These missions, normally carried out by the air force, are now carried out with devices that are much cheaper than a plane or helicopter. Drones also offer the advantage of not risking the lives of soldiers by launching attacks at the best moment and of saving ammunition with targeted bombing thanks to the intelligence obtained.
The Bayraktar TB2, a drone supplied by Turkey, has even become the symbol of resistance against the Russian invasion. A song and music video were created to pay tribute to this weapon that was considered by many weapons experts to be too heavy, too slow, and not flying high enough. some found it low cost.
The TB2 offers a range of more than 20 hours, travels at 250 km/h, flies at an altitude of 6800 meters and covers a range of 150 km2. It can also carry four laser-guided missiles.
These features have proven their worth in the field. According to the website Oryx which lists the Ukrainian and Russian losses, the TB2s are the target of Russian artillery which would have destroyed at least 16 of them.
Its popularity in Ukraine has put its builder, Baykar Makina, on the international scene. In recent months, the company has signed contracts with 22 countries. Its production capacity has increased to 20 units per month to meet the full order book for the next three years.
The only issue with the Bayraktar TB2 remains its price: $5 million per machine with another $5 million for the control unit. In 2022, the Lithuanians launched a fundraiser to buy something from the Ukrainian army. In 3 days, this operation raised 5 million dollars, enough to offer a drone to the Ukrainian army. Baykar Makina is now even planning to set up a factory in the Ukraine to produce more and sell its machines cheaper to fighters.
Startups that have become defense nuggets
Ukraine was not satisfied with these drones designed for combat. Much less expensive civilian models created for model airplane or amateur competitions also entered the war. But there is also no need to appeal to the arms manufacturers to buy them. The most efficient are found in stores or on websites for a few thousand euros.
Already used in guerrillas against conventional armies, they have established themselves as effective backup weapons in this high-intensity conflict.
But above all, they offer an inescapable tactical advantage. “Artillery not illuminated by drones loses the possibility of hitting the target. With drones that detect the terrain, it is 100% and the number of projectiles used is divided by 4 or 5”, explains Xavier Tytelman to BFM Business.
Athlon-Avia, a Ukrainian company, has made a name for itself in this field. In 2013, it was a startup created by three scale airplane enthusiasts. They produced custom built competition drones for enthusiasts out of a garage. Today it is a classified company that has an R&D center. It produces more than one hundred machines every month in a factory under high protection.
In addition to its classic drone equipped with sensors and cameras for reconnaissance or guidance of artillery fire, Athlon Avia has created the “Silent Thunder” (silent thunder). It is a drone ammunition similar to the American Switchblade. It searches for its target to destroy it or, depending on the data transmitted to it, launches an explosive charge.
The social media war
An Odessa company, Flymod, has also become an unexpected player in this war. As revealed in an article published on the site Vice, is a store specialized in the sale of FPV (first person view) drone components for sports competitions. Users pilot their drone visually with a virtual reality headset connected to a camera installed on the machine. Soldiers can thus follow a target that will be hit even if it changes course.
Building on this potential, the UAV unit of the Ukrainian Army has been equipped with a fleet of FPVs, each of which is tailor-made depending on the mission and the payload to be dropped.
These operations are filmed and the videos broadcast internally or published on social networks. The dissemination of these images has a double interest: on the one hand, to show the Ukrainian population that the resistance is active thanks to its innovative capabilities, and on the other hand, to create a feeling of permanent insecurity in the Russian troops that evolve with the fear of being attacked by the enemy and hit at any time.
But this use is not appreciated by US civilian companies whose innovations are used for military purposes. Ukrainian drones work with the Starlink Communications Network from SpaceX that seems to discover that the infrastructure provided to Ukraine is used by the military. Elon Musk’s company asks kyiv will stop using its networks to control combat drones.
Starlink was “never intended to be a weapon,” SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell explained at an event in Washington, stressing that it went against the parties’ agreement.
Iran’s replica of Russia
Although it has a sizeable strike force and several hundred thousand soldiers, Ukrainian drones are inflicting heavy material and human losses on Russia. But Moscow has also added the Shahed-136, Iranian kamikaze drones, to its arsenal.
These machines are equipped witha Chinese MD550 heat engine, an entry level version of the German Limbach L550E engine that inspired the Volkswagen block that powered the “Beetles”. It can be found for less than $20 on the site. made in China. Therefore, they are recognizable by the moped noise of this engine that can be heard from afar and terrifies the civilian population.
Rudimentary, the Shahed-136 are not piloted remotely. They use GPS coordinates to reach a fixed target. They can travel 200 kilometers at low speed and low altitude to reach it. Cheaper than a missile, they allow the Russian army to save ammunition. To improve their range and accuracy, Russia has retrofitted them, according to a US military expert, with the Glonass system, the Russian equivalent of US GPS.
Their consumption is such that in order to produce more, faster and reduce costs, Moscow and Tehran would have, according to an article published on February 5 by the Wall Street Journal, a plant construction project in Russia. Iran has denied this information. The Iranian Foreign Ministry also claims that the Shahed used by Russia were delivered before the outbreak of the war.
But according to the Critical Threats Project (CTP), a geostrategy think tank, a drone factory has been set up to build Shahed-136, renamed “Geran-2”. It is in Tajikistan, a member state of two Moscow-run bodies: the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
On February 15, the European Union announced that the tenth package of sanctions against Moscow being prepared in Brussels will also target “Iranian operators” – “including those linked to the Revolutionary Guards – whose drones “kill Ukrainian civilians”. .
The fight against drones, a global issue
To protect itself from Russian drones, kyiv is developing a shield based on a wave-jamming system to keep the Shahed away from their target. The Ukrainian military has also had a startup called ePPO develop an Android app to allow the public to warn the military about flyovers by drones, planes, helicopters or cruise missiles. By pointing your smartphone in the direction of an aircraft, the air defense receives your signature and your geolocation. The response is sent in seconds.
With the war in Ukraine, drones have become essential weapons for all armies.
Their effectiveness, their easy and cheap access and their worldwide distribution require that all countries equip themselves with them and at the same time find the means to defend themselves. Now it is a question not only of acquiring it, but also of finding the means to protect yourself from it.
Already in 2021, in a parliamentary report, the senators were already asking for the fight against drones to be prioritized. In the national territory, the number of drones, mostly civilians, has gone from 400,000 in 2017 to 2.5 million today.
For the 2024 Olympics, as well as this year’s Rugby World Cup, the fight against drones has been placed under the responsibility of the military. This protection will be provided by the Helma-P laser developed by Cilas, a subsidiary of ArianeGroup and with the Parade (Protection deploymentAble modulaiRe Anti-DronEs) system developed by Thales.
All countries are working on response methods. The United States spends billions in this fight against drones. Darpa, the Pentagon’s research agency, has developed a spray that traps the drone with cables reminiscent of those used by Spiderman to capture his enemies. In Israel, the startup D-Fend has developed an acquisition program to land drones safely. This device is already used by Tsahal to protect airports.
Source: BFM TV
