The sheer number of drones in use on the battlefield in Ukraine, as well as their real-time video surveillance, means that troops and tanks in the open have only minutes before they become targets, a Ukrainian general was quoted as saying by Insider.

“Now a tank column or an advancing column of troops can be detected within 3-5 minutes and after another 3 minutes hit,” said the Deputy Head of the Military Intelligence of Ukraine, Major General Vadym Sibitsky, in an interview with journalists of the publication. The Wall Street Journal.

“Survival rate [a forțelor aflate] in motion for no more than 10 minutes,” he emphasized.

His comments came as both Ukraine and Russia this year began deploying thousands of cheap kamikaze drones on the battlefield to target both enemy vehicles and soldiers.

The Ukrainian military has been resorting to such tactics since May of last year, having received “Switchblade” kamikaze drones from the United States. But Russia has also restored the gap it had at the beginning of the war in this regard, and is now producing thousands of drones of this type, despite Western sanctions on the export of electronic components to Moscow.

The insider notes that this new development on the front raises questions about some fundamental aspects of US military doctrine.

Cheap drones, a replacement in the war in Ukraine for the lack of dominance in the air

“The days of mass armored assaults, covering miles in a day like in 2003 in Iraq — those things are gone because drones are now so effective,” retired WSJ veteran Sergeant Bradley Crawford told the Iraq War. .

For months, several military analysts and defense officials have spoken of the need for NATO member states to integrate drones more into their military doctrine, but they have also noted a fundamental difference between how the war in Ukraine is being fought and how NATO expects to conduct a conventional war. war:

In Ukraine, neither side enjoys air supremacy, while NATO relies on superior air power to support offensive ground forces.

But another important aspect is related to costs, because the costs of the war are absolutely huge for both Ukraine and Russia.

An FPV kamikaze drone (which can capture footage to transmit to operators) typically costs around $400-$500, while a 155mm artillery shell can cost up to 10 times that in NATO countries.

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