Ukraine, testing ground for evolution of drone warfare.

 DRONES NOW ACCOUNTING FOR MOST CASUALTIES

DRONES HAVE ALLOWED UKRAINE TO HANG ON

The Ukraine war has become the testing ground for the use of Drones in warfare. Ukraine was the first to extensively use improvised drones to use as surveillance and then to carry small bombs. Russia while having drones, they were behind in this technology, but have now become very sophisticated in the manufacture and use of drones. In fact, both countries have most likely surpassed the western countries in done tactics and manufacturing.

Today drones have surpassed artillery as the leading cause of casualties in this conflict.

Besides drone manufacturing and tactics the evolution of electronic  countermeasures and other sophisticated approaches for defense from drones is evolving.

Ukraine began with improvising cheap Chinese drones to carry small munitions often rigged together in basements and on the fly. They have learned and become much more sophisticated as they adapted to the countermeasures  introduced by Russia. Both countries are using common electronic components supplied from China. Ukraine is dependent on Starlink and Russia has their own independent satellite system.

Russia began by using Iranian drones and some of their own creations, but now may be the leader in these small battlefield drones, produced cheaply and in massive numbers. A $1000 drone can disable a $4 million fighting vehicle or a $20 million tank. Then leaving them vulnerable to artillery fire. 

Now drones can be placed in enemy territory and just lay there until needed, then activated, or they are being manufactured to be able to communicate with other drones and all converge on a target. Soon drones may be able to become autonomous and no longer need to be controlled from some other location which makes them vulnerable to electronic countermeasures.

Today, many of these drones are controlled from locations deep inside Russia by former gamers and non military personnel, a practice that the U.S. has been using for years with larger very expensive drones, which are mostly controlled from bases in the U.S.

There is no other testing method than can offer the experience gained in real battlefield conditions. This war between two sophisticated peer equipped militaries, Ukraine with all the best of NATO and Russia, have had the ultimate proving grounds for drone warfare.