Drones filling the skies over Ukraine battlefields

Tanks, once the stalwarts of ground combat, are increasingly being sidelined by unmanned aerial vehicles in Ukraine. Drones, frequently deployed as alternatives to traditional artillery, have been patrolling the skies, dropping explosives on humans and heavy armor alike. Soldiers entrenched in battle zones now dread the ominous buzz overhead – a signal that a drone, armed and ready, might soon release its deadly payload.

Has the age of the killer robots finally arrived?

Drones serve multiple roles on the Ukrainian battlefield, including conducting reconnaissance missions, directing artillery, evacuating soldiers, and carrying out attacks by deploying bombs. The first-person-view (FPV) drones that drop explosives or can be used as kamikaze drones, wreak havoc across the battlefield. One Russian soldier recently pleaded on social media for pump shotguns to help stop Ukrainian drones because “they’re simply burning us.”

Drones are changing other aspects of warfare in Ukraine. Both armies have begun using motorcycles instead of armored vehicles because they throw up smaller dust clouds. More mobility and a lower signature on the battlefield are more important than having a lot of protection – a soldier on a motorbike is less likely to be spotted by a drone.

Newest Iranian glide bombs

A German weapons expert determined that Iran’s latest guided aerial bomb was on a drone deployed by Russian troops against Ukraine that crashed in the Kursk region on Sunday May 26.

Kostyantyn Mynailenko, a commander of an aerial reconnaissance unit in the Liut (“Fury”) Brigade, which is an assault brigade of the National Police of Ukraine, shared some details with us.

He explained that none of the unit’s pilots had any official training with