Ukrainian tank-hunting teams use drones to find and stalk Russian vehicles with minimal risk
pro-Kremlin journalist posted on Telegram, a messaging app, asking Russians to donate their drones to the armed forces. Inboth sides have been buying cheap consumer drones. In peacetime, these were the playthings of technology enthusiasts and amateur film-makers. How are Russia and Ukraine using devices that have more in common with toys than military hardware?
Consumer drones were first popularised by Parrot, a French company. In 2010 it released the AR.Drone, a 400g quadcopter. A camera gave the pilot a bird’s-eye view, and a sophisticated autopilot made manoeuvring and hovering simple. The AR.Drone was successful in part because it required little piloting skill, unlike previous radio-controlled toys. In 2013 the market changed radically with the arrival of the Phantom, made by, a Chinese startup.
These abilities make consumer drones useful in war. They have been used in previous conflicts, notably by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria for reconnaissance and to drop bombs, but only on a small scale. In Ukraine they are playing a larger role. When Russia invaded in February, Ukraine’s defence ministry appealed for drone-owners to turn their machines over to the armed forces. Several thousand are reportedly in use.for an observer on the ground to precisely locate the enemy and direct fire.
Russian-backed militias in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region have used consumer drones for years. After Russia’s defence ministry announced in 2019 that army units would be issued with quadcopters, most observers assumed that they would be developed inside the country, says Samuel Bendett, an expert on unmanned military systems. But a rash of consumer-drone sightings in Ukraine suggests that Russia is using off-the-shelf hardware in much the same way as Ukraine’s forces.
The ubiquitous, cheap drones buzzing overhead in Ukraine may be a vision of future conflicts. Knowing exactly where enemy forces are and what they are doing brings huge advantages. Now there is a simple way to find out.
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