Drones From Force-Multipliers: Now Drone Vs Drone – OpEd
Earlier drones were used as Force-Multipliers providing multifaceted information about the enemy deployment on the battlefield.These were initially being used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance providing the real-time picture of the battlefield to direct the fire of various weapon systems.Have now developed into independent armed platforms developing from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or Drones to armed drones. The 2020 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region was the first war in the history of modern warfare that has been won almost entirely on the strength of Azerbaijan drones.
Ukraine war appears to have lately evolved into a new kind of Drone Vs Drone war going beyond the boundaries of the Battle Zone.Ukrainian forces have been using variety of drones being supplied by the US and the West and of course they have the Turkish Bayraktar TB2.In the initial war percentage of destruction caused to the Russian equipment can be assumed that the Ukraine army operated Drones have proved lethal for the Russian forces.
Russia had not relied on drones aadequately earlier till it acquired Shahed 131 and 136 Kamikaze drones from Iran which have changed the complexion of the drone battles.These are employed especially against air defence systems, warehouses, fuel reserves, military bases, convoys and warships. Russia has conducted large number of strikes using these drones in Odessa, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk successfully.Iranian drones are very cheap and efficient and they are far less costly than the missiles. Russia and Iran have even announced a joint venture to build Iranian design drones in Russia.
Latest Drone Vs Drone Attacks: Counter Claims
Moscow said the Russian capital was attacked by drones on 30 May morning, accusing Ukraine of attacking civilian homes. Eight drones were used in the attack. All of the enemy drones were downed,” Russia’s defense ministry said .
Russia launched yet another pre-dawn air raid targeting Ukraine‘s capital Kyiv continuing their relentless wave of daylight and nighttime bombardments.”Russian President Vladimir Putin said “We have spoken about hitting command centers in Ukraine.In response, the Kyiv regime has chosen the path of trying to frighten Russia, frighten the citizens of Russia and of strikes on residential buildings.” Ukraine’s air force, meanwhile, said Russian forces had sent 31 Shahed drones and 29 of which were shot down!
CBS News senior foreign correspondent Debora Patta said an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged that Kyiv was watching the attacks inside Russia with pleasure and believed they would increase, but insisted Ukraine’s government had nothing to do with the incidents.
US Plans to Counter Drones
In the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, the US Congress directed the Pentagon to create a plan for developing and fielding defense systems to counter small drones. And this year the Pentagon plans to spend nearly $700 million for counter-drone research and development, plus $78 million for procurement. A private research firm estimates the market for systems to counter small drones will grow from about $2.3 billion in 2023 to $12.6 billion by 2030. This market includes not only the Pentagon but also state and municipal governments, as well as private entities.
New Era of Warfare with drones as the Winners
These drone aerial duels are somewhat like Kite flying fights simply trying new Air dominance by drones. These are essentially ‘Flying Explosive Devices’ creating asymmetric advantages that have been difficult to counter.Another challenge these small drones present is that they are now widely available and cheap enough to be purchased in large numbers.
Clearly, the Ukrainian War has shown the versatile benefits of the technology of drones. Drones have a longer range than many of the missiles. They are cheaper, don’t require the same level of training that aircrews in manned aircraft would need, and don’t put operating troops at the risk of the front line battles.Drones thus provide a means to penetrate deep into warring nations territories miles behind the current frontiers. Their ability to evade air defences serves as an important, morale-boosting tactical victory at low costs. If Russian claims of Ukraine strikes are true then Ukraine has been successful to target Moscow almost at a range of almost 800 kms!
Ukraine War has announced the arrival of the new era of drone warfare.Drones are proving to be path breaking development on the battle field as well as in the civil field. In the future drones will be in excessive use. Drones has moved from counter-terrorism or counter-insurgency warfare into full scale conventional combat. Drone warfare based on artificial intelligence beckons to be the future sophisticated Force Multiplier as proved in the ongoing Ukraine conflict Drone warfare.