Ukraine uses Western money and technology to create its own long-range drones to strike deep into Russian territory.
Despite the fact that, due to the fear of “escalation”, the allies still cannot dare to allow Kyiv to use Western weapons for strikes deep into the territory of the Russian Federation, the Defense Forces of Ukraine are increasing long-range attacks by drones of their own production against strategic enemy targets. Ukrainian drones hit airfields, ammunition depots, oil depots and command centers.
BBC writes about this.
For more than two years of war, Ukrainian companies have established the production of hundreds of attack UAVs every month. This makes it possible to meet the needs of the army much faster and at a lower cost than waiting for the supply of Western analogues.
Moreover, Russia's losses after attacks by Ukrainian drones are disproportionately large compared to Ukraine's costs for their production and use.
According to Francisco Serra-Martins, one of the founders of the company Terminal Autonomy, which produces UAVs for the Ukrainian army, such a strategy creates problems for Russia and, in general, with additional investments, it can change the course of the war in favor of Ukraine.
Ukrainian Scythe and Bayonet drones – “flying furniture”
Terminal Autonomy was founded by ex-Australian army engineer Serra-Martins and his Ukrainian partner a year after the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine with US financial support. It now produces more than a hundred AQ400 Scythe UAVs every month, with a range of up to 750 km, and hundreds of AQ100 Bayonet drones, which have a slightly shorter range.
“Our drones – are essentially flying furniture. We collect them, like Ikea. To build the fuselage, it takes about an hour – to put the brains – into it – said Serra-Martins about his drones, which are made of plywood.
He noted that the Bayonet drone costs several thousand dollars. And the Russians shoot down these drones with missiles, each of which costs more than 1 million dollars.
How the “brains” of Ukrainian drones work
The low cost of drones – it's just part of being successful. In order for drone attacks to achieve their goals, they need good “brains”.
Since the beginning of the war, the American technology company Palantir has been helping the Ukrainians with the development of necessary military software, including tools for planning long-range drone strikes. One of these programs creates a map of the best routes for the flight of UAVs.
Based on the analysis of satellite images and intelligence, the program plots the location of Russian air defense facilities on the map – radars and EW devices. Next, the safest route is laid, which avoids enemy obstacles as much as possible.
“Understanding and visualizing what that looks like across the entire battlespace is really important to optimize these missions,” – emphasized Palantir employee Louis Mosley.
During one attack, Ukraine launches up to 60 drones at the same time. Of course, most drones are shot down, about 10% reach the target, but shooting them down is not useless either – it exhausts the air defense of the Russians.
Impact of Ukrainian UAV attacks on the course of the war
Professor Justin Bronk from the Royal Institute of the United Armed Forces believes that Ukrainian drone attacks have another benefit in addition to physical damage to enemy targets – show the population of the Russian Federation that “the state cannot fully protect them and that Russia is vulnerable”.
In addition, the danger posed by long-range drones to Russian airfields and aircraft has forced Russia to relocate the vast majority of its aviation inland. As a result – the frequency of airstrikes on the territory of Ukraine decreased.
Prospects of attacks on the territory of the Russian Federation
Ukraine is convinced that the transfer of the war to the territory of the enemy is the key to victory over Russia. But for this, in addition to drones, long-range missiles are needed. Since the West is still does not give permission to use its long-range weapons, Ukraine has to rely on its own capabilities. Now, a Ukrainian company is already developing a new cruise missile, which, moreover, will be at least an order of magnitude cheaper than the British Storm Shadow.
The publication notes that despite the West's fears, Ukraine plans to intensify its attacks on Russia.
“What you see now is nothing compared to what you will see by the end of the year,” – assured Serra-Martins.