Drones are hit and miss for Ukrainian soldiers
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A Ukraine soldier places a first person view (FPV) drone with an attached shell for an RPG-7 grenade launcher to a launch point, at a position near the town of Horlivka.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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DONETSK REGION, UKRAINE - A Ukrainian soldier near the front line looks into video goggles and clutches a control set in both hands as he guides a drone during the war against Russia.
The soldier, who goes by the call sign Sam, looks up and complains: “There’s no video.”
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, have become vital for Ukraine’s military since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
But many of them are hastily and cheaply assembled by volunteers, and the lack of quality is affecting Ukraine’s ability to survey and attack Russian positions.
At an undisclosed location along the eastern front line in the Donetsk region, soldiers in the Rarog squadron said they would rather have 10 well-made devices than 50 less-reliable ones.
“Most common problems are problems with the video link and with the control link,” Sam said during a recent visit by Reuters.
He added: “And most of them are because of low-quality parts that are used very often to make the drones even cheaper”.
Some of the drone operators called for UAVs to be tested before they are used in battle.
“We must test drones supplied by new producers or made by a civilian,” said one operator who goes by the call sign Fest.
“In addition to losing the drone itself, we can lose ammunition, which is not cheap.”
Another, who uses the call sign Pit, said drones should conform to standards so that operators know in advance how the device they are asked to operate will work.
He said: “You work a lot and have to do flight after flight, while drones differ a lot. One has different controllers, another different settings, and so on.
“When under pressure, it happens that you miss a detail, and it leads to missing a target.”
Ukrainian soldiers of the 24th Separate Mechanised Brigade operate an FPV drone at a position near the town of Horlivka, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
PHOTO: REUTERS
An integral part of Ukraine’s war effort
Ukraine’s Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the soldiers’ remarks.
The use of what are known as first-person view (FPV) drones in battle has been one of the more successful low-cost strategies Ukraine has used on the battlefield.
Russia has expanded its own drone fleet since the start of the war, and has improved its ability to block Ukrainian UAVs through electronic warfare, but drones are an integral part of Ukraine’s war effort.
Drones range from small UAVs controlled remotely to larger devices that can fly hundreds of kilometres deep into Russian territory. President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Kyiv plans to produce one million drones in 2024.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, have become vital for Ukraine’s military since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022
PHOTO: REUTERS
Video footage provided by Ukraine’s military demonstrating the use of UAVs in action, shows a small drone carrying an explosive device flying into a Russian armoured vehicle parked in a garage before the screen goes blank.
Reuters could not independently verify the footage.
Despite their impact, Sam said drones could not win the war on their own. Artillery remains an important weapon against Russian forces using fortified trenches and dugouts, and Ukraine has told its allies it is running short of ammunition.
“This war has like a high-tech side of it and still the old-school trench warfare side of it,” Sam said.
He added: “Modern warfare today combines modern tactics with old-school tactics working together”. REUTERS
