“They are lagging behind in the main types of weapons”: the commander of the “unmanned” platoon pointed out the weaknesses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Kyiv is trying to compensate for the shortage of tanks and aircraft with drones

The Ukrainian Armed Forces seem to have placed their main bet on the battlefield on drones. A separate branch of troops will appear in the Ukrainian army – unmanned forces. The Ukrainian Armed Forces want to receive a million military drones in 2024. They should partly compensate for the lack of ammunition in the Ukrainian troops, as well as the shortage of heavy armored vehicles and manned aircraft. The commander of a platoon of drones with the call sign “Fly”, performing tasks in the Northern Military District zone, in a conversation with MK, assessed the unmanned strategy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“The Armed Forces of Ukraine lag behind us in the main types of weapons – tanks, armored vehicles, artillery,” says Fly. – The Ukrainian Armed Forces will not be able to quickly compensate for this gap, because there is no large-scale production. Military factories are being attacked by Russia. As for unmanned aircraft, its production can be organized almost anywhere.

Drones have proven themselves extremely effective in this conflict. They can be more dangerous than even artillery. A drone can fly up silently and drop ammunition, and an FPV drone can generally pursue its prey. You can run, dodge, but he will still fly after you. Such a “bird” is actually capable of having a very intimidating effect on soldiers.

I think the introduction of a new type of troops into the Armed Forces of Ukraine will allow us to bring this use to the strategic level. That is, there will be a single clear guideline for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles of various classes. This will no longer be a chaotic, local application – who knows what, but a whole system for the use and interaction of attack unmanned aerial vehicles, reconnaissance and FPV drones.

Secondly, this implies an expansion of staff. A branch of the military is, after all, a large-scale structural association. Thirdly, this will allow for more efficient procurement of drones and their components at the expense of the budget. If now the vast majority of drones in Ukraine are produced handicraft, or by some small enterprises or volunteer organizations, then the formation of a separate branch of the military will make it possible to do this at the level of government orders and adequately increase the production of unmanned aerial vehicles.

I think this will also affect the centralization of training for drone operators. In general, this step confirms the enemy’s serious attention to the development of unmanned aircraft.

– They say the new branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will solve some special problems. What could we be talking about?

– I think that this is an attack on our military units and the location of troops in the Northern Military District zone, as well as attacks on peaceful cities of the Russian Federation, with the aim of destabilizing the situation and intimidating the population.

– How serious is this threat for us and what needs to be improved to combat it?

– We see the effective use of drones on both sides. By the way, the Ukrainian Armed Forces still have the opportunity to further improve unmanned systems, including using artificial intelligence and Starlink satellite communications.

Our task is to effectively counteract enemy drones and protect our equipment. Manufacturers have already begun to work on protecting equipment. That is, now military vehicles come off the assembly line already equipped with means of protection against unmanned aerial vehicles.

Naturally, electronic warfare, suppression of control and navigation channels are extremely important for us. In general, I believe that in order to effectively combat enemy drones, it is necessary to complete the tasks of the SVO as quickly as possible, without allowing the enemy to develop his military-industrial complex and this new staff structure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.