With a virtual reality headset on his face, Ukrainian soldier Igor pilots his drone. Next to him, two masts topped with repeaters increase the range of his machine, and therefore the threat on the front line.
“Compared to the beginning (of the war), we have made a lot of progress,” said Igor, a 24-year-old volunteer, during the test in a field near Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine.
“The effectiveness of FPV drones (first person view in English, immersion piloting) has become much better, the flight too, we can fly at a greater distance, and better use the ammunition carried,” adds the soldier.
Its four-propeller aircraft is equipped with a front camera, the pilot of which sees live images as if he were on board.
On the front, this type of device can either drop grenades and serve again, or explode with its charge on its target. Social networks abound with videos of such strikes, giving the viewer the impression of being on the scene themselves.
Another use is intelligence. The drone tracks the movements of the enemy who will become a target for another explosive device, artillery or tanks. Or it is used to coordinate infantry attacks.
In nearly two years of war since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, drones of all types have imposed themselves on the battlefield, triggering an arms race, with both sides fearing them as much as they use them .
“Drones are the eyes of our military,” summarizes Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhaïlo Fedorov, to AFP.
120,000 drones per month
In the summer of 2022, in connection with the government fundraising platform UNITED24, Ukraine launched the “Drone Army” project for the “purchase of drones, training of pilots and repair” of machines damaged, he explains.
“From 80 companies in the fall of 2022, we now have around 200 drone productions, small and large,” explains the minister.
“Last year, only seven Ukrainian drones could be used on the front lines. There are now more than 50 unique models made in Ukraine, and it continues to grow,” he says.
FPV drones “cost a few hundred dollars, but are capable of destroying equipment worth millions of dollars when a skilled pilot uses them,” he says.
He also cites “naval drones in the Black Sea, which are doing an excellent job destroying the Russian fleet and ensuring maritime security.”
The army also uses drones with eight propellers capable of carrying an anti-tank mine of nearly 6 kg of explosive. The Russians would have nicknamed them “Baba Yaga”, after the evil witch of Russian folklore.
The scale of this drone war is difficult to estimate, with Ukrainian officials citing a monthly need of 100,000 to 120,000 drones.
Leader of an FPV platoon, “Banderas” – his military designator – uses civilian machines with components made in China.
In the basement of a house near Bakhmout, which serves as a workshop, a team first reconfigures the drones “so that they work with our equipment, our antennas, our receivers,” explains the head of unit of 27 years. They are also installing more powerful batteries to increase the range to 18 km.
Still in the cellar, Soviet RPG-7 grenade launcher ammunition is also stored. The explosive part weighing 1 kg and capable of penetrating 500 mm of armor is then fixed under the drone which will go hunting.
Artificial intelligence
“Banderas” explains that 30 to 40% of drones are lost, sometimes under enemy fire but most often “because of Russian electronic countermeasures”, which cut the signal between the pilot’s control and the drone, causing it to fall this last.
Ukraine has also launched its “Electronic Warfare Army” program to better defend itself against Russian devices, such as the Lancet, a formidable artillery hunter.
And a new step has just been taken, that of artificial intelligence (AI), after the recent approval by the Ministry of Defense of a system from the Ukrainian company Saker Scout, “based on AI algorithms “.
“The system, using advanced optics, independently recognizes and records the coordinates of enemy equipment (even camouflaged), immediately transmitting the information to the command post to make the appropriate decision,” the ministry said in September.
“This eliminates the risk of “human error”, since the operator’s eye is not always capable of capturing all the nuances,” he assured.
For Minister Mykhaïlo Fedorov, “this war will be won thanks to drones, and Ukraine is doing everything possible and impossible to achieve this.”