Russia's New Tank Tactic: Roll Right Thru Ukraine's Drone Swarms, Hoping A Few Vehicles Survive

Sometimes, a few survivors is enough

Ukraine produces around 400,000 explosive first-person-view drones every month. A typical drone regiment or brigade—the Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces oversees at least six such units—might expend more than 10,000 FPVs a month. Other Ukrainian drone teams, spread across the armed forces and other security agencies, account for the remaining FPVs.

That’s a lot of drones. But official statistics from early this year are a healthy reminder that most drones miss—or fail, on their own, to kill a Russian soldier or destroy a Russian vehicle.

It’s a problem for Ukrainian forces. And it’s getting worse as Russian armored vehicles return to the battlefield following a long break.

When reporter David Hambling crunched official figures for March released by the Birds of Magyar—once a small drone team, now a full brigade under the USF—he concluded it takes, on average, seven drones sorties to destroy a target. Most sorties are one-way attacks by FPV drones. Others involve reusable heavy drones dropping grenades or mines.

That’s a useful baseline for understanding an important and, for Ukraine, potentially dangerous trend all along the 700-mile front line of Russia’s 44-month wider war on Ukraine. Early this year, Russian field armies parked almost all of their armored vehicles and attacked with infantry and motorcycle troops, instead.