Perhaps never before in history. Devices that are not weapons, so one of the keys to real combat. Yes, Ukraine relies heavily on drones to fight Russia. All kinds of drones were deployed. This may be unexpected before.
Not only combat drones such as the Bayraktar TB2 made in Turkey or the latest Switchblade, suicide drones assisted by the United States. DJI commercial drones to other cheaper types are also operated.
Not only from abroad, Ukraine itself has also deployed its own drone called the Punisher made by UA Dynamics for reconnaissance purposes.
"Drones are our eyes. If Russian artillery prepares to attack, we can turn to relying on drones from civilians. It is possible to strike as a deterrent and to save civilians," said a Ukrainian soldier.
Yes, not only the military, civilian drone users were also involved in fighting Russia. Not only lurking, sometimes commercial drones are modified so that they can carry weapons.
About 1,000 drones have been deployed in Ukraine's fight against Russia, according to military estimates. "Most of them are toy drones, but we use what we have," said one soldier.
You could say, the low budget drone dares to challenge Russia's large military power and is claimed to be quite effective. Even for Ukraine, drones are seen as more useful than tanks.
"At some point, tanks became the key to warfare. Now at this point, drones may be the more decisive weapon system," said John Parachini, a military researcher at the Rand Corp.
However, Ukraine should be wary because Russia could at any time strike back with its military might. For example, the deployment of a jammer device can make Ukrainian drones less functional or even unusable.