Deadly Drones Fill the Skies Over Ukraine

What Happened?

In late 2023 Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky announced the ambitious goal of supplying Ukraine with one million drones to fight the Russian invasion which began in 2022.

Based on the number of drones in the skies above Ukraine and the damage they’ve inflicted on both sides, the one million drone goal may have been achieved.

Increasing video evidence of drones in combat in Ukraine have been shared by both Russian and Ukrainian drone operators, and the footage provides a glimpse into a new era of drone warfare.

Why it Matters

What’s unique about the drones in use over Ukraine is not just their numbers, but their type. In past conflicts most military drones were manufactured by large producers paid by national governments.

Few people outside national military forces could afford such drones. But the vast majority of the drones in the skies over Ukraine are off the shelf, meaning they are available for commercial purchase by ordinary citizens.

Ukrainian fighters and civilian workers have repurposed commercial drones into their own hand-made air force. These drones tend to be small which makes them hard to track in the skies, and each drone tends to focus on a single target, often guided by a user who is operating from an abandoned house or other ordinary looking structure.

Using commercially available power and internet connections, such drone houses are de facto bases of operation scattered throughout the countryside though they appear to be unoccupied from the outside.

In addition, Ukrainian workers have been using 3D printing technologies to make replacement parts for drones and to build copies of existing ones. That decreases the cost of replenishing their drone fleet while giving Ukraine a more versatile supply chain, because they can make parts from raw materials instead of requiring shipments from the original manufacturer.

Because raw materials are easier to get locally, Ukraine has been able to mass-produce small attack drones for use against Russian forces.

By fixing explosive devices to small drones, Ukrainians have created low-cost weapons systems capable of disabling or destroying complex military machinery like tanks and armored vehicles.

And because one drone operator can use dozens or even hundreds of drones over the course of time, drones act as a force multiplier for Ukraine allowing them to offset manpower shortages of ground troops.

Whereas one suicide bomber can only attack one target then they’re gone, one drone operator can launch ‘suicide drone’ attacks against targets indefinitely.

How it Affects You

Nealy all the parts and equipment Ukrainians are using to assemble and deploy their makeshift drone fleet are commercially available.

The same is true for supporting infrastructure such as power and internet connections.

Modified drones currently being used with deadly effect against Russian military forces over the skies in Ukraine could also be used for assassinations, terrorist attacks, and criminal activities anywhere in the world.