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Ukraine war shows how cheap and common drone technology can be turned into lethal weapons

Toys from drones to cheap dune buggies are being repurposed by both Ukraine and Russia and are proving to be highly effective on the battlefield

A Ukrainian special forces unit operates a surveillance drone out on the waters of the River Dnieper last year. Drone technology has been used in the war with Russia with lethal effect. Photograph: Ivor Prickett/The New York Times

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Chris Horn
Thu Dec 14 2023 - 05:45

As winter has set in across Ukraine, and after an extreme storm battered the Black Sea region, social media clips and commentators are drawing parallels to the nightmarish trench warfare of the western front during the first World War. Deep slush and snow has made moving heavy battlefield equipment nearly impossible, and so confrontations are reduced to soldiers making forays on foot.

Both Russian and Ukrainian military bloggers describe the trenches infested with mice and rats – “some as big as an AK-47″ – spreading disease and damaging equipment cables, attracted by the relative warmth from the freezing conditions, food scraps and all the human detritus from an appalling war.

The 1914-18 trench warfare ignited frantic innovation to try to break the desperate stalemate. Tanks, tunnelled charges and mustard gas were created. Aircraft, initially used just for artillery spotting, morphed into a potent new form of artillery.

The catastrophic war in Ukraine is equally resulting in extreme creativity. With limited human resources compared to those of Russia, Ukraine is innovating with new weapons systems and at a fraction of the normal expenditure on elaborate and expensive equipment.

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First-person view (FPV) drones, in which a drone’s video feed is transmitted directly into headset goggles, were originally conceived for quadcopter racing

Initially, Ukraine led Russia with repurposed hobbyist drones and quadcopters, but these are now used extensively by both sides. Officially, consumer drone manufacturers such as China’s DJI censure their products being used in warfare. Nevertheless, spare parts and components are widely available. In the Ukrainian case, numerous workshops assemble drones, often with considerable continuous innovation and with feedback and suggestions from the front lines.

First-person view (FPV) drones, in which a drone’s video feed is transmitted directly into headset goggles, were originally conceived for quadcopter racing. Skilled operators in Ukraine fly such drones as “kamikazes”, each with an onboard grenade, directly on to or even into targets. Social media clips show FPV drones chasing down vehicles and boats, even flying into open hatches on tanks. A recent clip showed a Russian soldier desperately trying to fend off such a pursuing quadcopter with a stick.

The range of such drones initially was limited to a few kilometres, but now has been extended to tens of kilometres. Larger “mothership” quadcopters have been built to transport their smaller brethren to a target area, then releasing them for individual sorties.

Electronic countermeasures on both sides, to jam the control of drones, is challenging to ensure adequate air coverage over troops, and to keep up with changing communication tactics. A Ukrainian team recently hacked into an in-flight Russian drone and tracked it back to its operating base, whose co-ordinates were then immediately passed to a Ukrainian field artillery unit. Some of the ostensibly highly accurate guided munitions, supplied to Ukraine by the US and others, have been misled by spoofing satellite navigation signals.

Electronic warfare jammers are themselves susceptible to becoming targets, since they in effect broadcast signals trackable back to their own locations.

Since many army operations are under the cover of darkness, night flight drone attacks have considerable consequences for the battlefield, badly disrupting troop reinforcements and logistics supplies

Recently, an ordinary 4G cellular modem was found unexpectedly taped inside a downed Russian drone. When such a modem connects to the Ukrainian public mobile phone network, simple triangulation from the mobile phone towers enables accurate navigation. A loss of modem signal can precisely identify where a drone had been downed and hence safe navigation corridors deduced for further drone attacks. To counter this very simple piggybacking approach, the entire Ukrainian mobile phone network might need to be switched off.

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The past few months have seen drones equipped with thermal cameras, including for FPV flights. Since many army operations are under the cover of darkness, night flight drone attacks have considerable consequences for the battlefield, badly disrupting troop reinforcements and logistics supplies.

The recent extreme weather in the Black Sea has severely damaged protective barriers for the vulnerable Kerch Strait bridge. The Ukrainians have had considerable success on water, despite having no navy of note, by using sea drones. These in effect are converted jet-skis, capable of remote and autonomous operation.

In the past few months, cheap dune buggy toys have been re-envisaged as kamikazes equipped with thermal sensors. Casually dropped into an enemy trench, they can self-navigate towards warmth and then explode when in proximity

The most recently announced can achieve 80kph over a 500km range, and carry a one tonne warhead. The Russian Black Sea fleet has largely withdrawn to ostensibly safer waters to the southeast at Novorossiysk or Sochi but still may be susceptible.

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Even on land, the Ukrainians are innovating with hobbyist drones. In the past few months, cheap dune buggy toys have been re-envisaged as kamikazes equipped with thermal sensors. Casually dropped into an enemy trench, they can self-navigate towards warmth and then explode when in proximity.

Ukraine and now Russia are showing how cheap and common technology can be put to dual use and so destroy elaborate multimillion euro weapons systems as well as human life. International policy strategists and defence contractors face an irrefutable new reality.

The warfare of 1914 and 2023 are also overlapping in more ways than one. Last week, a Ukrainian drone destroyed a Russian machine gun originally fielded in 1910.

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