Reliable quality vs. superglue: artillery reconnaissance compares Western and Russian drones
Pravda Ukraine
The 15th Separate Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade (Black Forest) has conducted a comparison between Western drones and Russian UAVs, highlighting the importance of ongoing upgrades and enhancements in technology for success in the drone warfare landscape.
Source: Ukrainska Pravda article, “Eyes of the gods: how the artillery reconnaissance of the Armed Forces of Ukraine leapt forward in destroying the Russian so-called ‘unparallelled system’ and S-400” (English translation to follow shortly)
Quote from Petro, the UAV unit’s platoon sergeant: “There are many advantages to Western systems. First and foremost, they offer high reliability. They’re produced by very large companies, and you can feel that right away. Second, Western systems can be used for a wide range of different operations.
However, there are also clear downsides – these systems are very expensive, and there aren’t many of them available. Our war has shown that quantity plays a significant role.”
Details: Regarding Russian drones, the soldier explains that they are made from cheap materials, but they do work: “You know, at weapon exhibitions, all these Russian drones look polished, with metal fittings and very light aluminium screws. But when our air defence troops bring down these drones, they’re held together with cable ties and superglue. Yet they still fly.”
“There are three components that need to be good on all reconnaissance drones: the camera, the autopilot, and communication modules. Clearly, the camera on the Russian drones is not Russian. The autopilot isn’t either. But the most expensive part – the communication modules – are somehow made by the enemy. And that’s a problem,” Petro describes the Russians’ technology.
He said the Russians have cheap, decent drones, and they have a lot of them. He draws a parallel with FPV drones. Ukrainian forces have found a way to turn these into effective weapons, but now the enemy outnumbers our defence forces. Although all the samples intercepted by the Armed Forces of Ukraine are much lower quality compared to their Ukrainian counterparts.
Everyone agrees on one thing: to maintain an advantage in war, it’s crucial not to stop updating and improving technology. Failing to do so would be a literally deadly mistake.
Quote: “In this war, UAVs are undergoing the same evolution that aviation once experienced. It started with reconnaissance drones, followed by simple bombers, and now we’ve moved on to interceptors. Logically, the next step will likely be fighters and attack aircraft.”
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