Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has promised to dramatically increase the production of drones, a weapon that has become indispensable during the war, but his military is increasingly finding problems with the quality of the equipment they receive to fight the Russian army, according to a Reuters report from the frontline.

A Ukrainian serviceman looks from the front through virtual reality glasses and holds the joystick with both hands to guide the drone over Russian positions.

But a soldier nicknamed “Sam” looks up and complains that “there’s no video feed.”

Drones, also called unmanned aerial vehicles, have become an important weapon of the Ukrainian armed forces since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022. In one moment, hundreds of such aircraft can fly over Russian positions, which stretch along the entire border from the east of the country to the Kherson region in the south.

But many of them are hastily assembled by volunteers, and the poor quality affects the ability of Ukrainian operators to monitor and attack the positions of the invading forces.

Ukrainian drone operators say the quality of the equipment they receive has dropped

Operators of the Ukrainian drone squadron “Rarog”, stationed in the east of the Donetsk region, say that it would be better to have 10 high-quality drones than 50 less reliable ones.

“The most common problems are problems with video communication and control,” Sam told Reuters reporters who visited the front line recently.

“And most of the problems are due to the fact that very often low-quality components are used to make drones even cheaper,” the Ukrainian military explained.

Some operators of Kyiv drones have demanded that the equipment they receive be tested before it is sent to them for combat use.

“We have to test new drones that are supplied by new manufacturers or made by civilians,” another Ukrainian serviceman nicknamed “Fest” told Reuters.

“In addition to losing the drone itself, we may lose ammunition, which is not cheap,” he added.

Pit, another Ukrainian operator, says drones must be manufactured to certain uniform standards so that the military knows in advance how they work if asked to use them.

“You work a lot and you have to do flight after flight when the drones are very different. One has different controllers, another has different settings, etc. When you’re under pressure, you miss a detail, and that leads to missing the mark,” he said.

PHOTO: AA/ABACA / Abaca Press / Profimedia

Drones have become the main weapon of war in Ukraine

The use of so-called FPV (First Person View) drones on the battlefield, which allow you to shoot video in real time, turned out to be one of the most cost-effective strategies of the Ukrainian troops. .

But even though Moscow’s forces had serious difficulties with drones at the start of the war, Russian forces are now at least as well equipped as Ukraine’s. The days of the first year of the invasion, when Ukrainian drones could fly freely over the battlefield to call on the Russian military to surrender, are now a distant memory.

In addition to catching up with the Ukrainians, the Russians have also significantly improved their electronic warfare equipment to neutralize enemy drones.

Drones used in the war in Ukraine mainly fall into one of three categories: long-range drones used to strike deep behind enemy lines, strike drones used to strike enemy equipment and troops, and surveillance drones. necessary for anti-terrorist operations. recognition.

The loss of advantage in the third category was directly referred to by General Valery Zaluzhny, the Chief of the General Staff in Kyiv, in his comments last November, in which he implied that Kyiv’s summer offensive had failed.

“The problem is that we see everything the enemy does, and they see everything we do. To get out of this impasse, we need something new,” the Ukrainian general said at the time, also emphasizing the need for a “technological leap” in equipping his army so that it could move forward.

A month later, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi announced that Ukraine would produce one million drones this year, recalling major efforts to increase production following the Russian invasion.

But despite their impact on the battlefield, cameraman Sam said they cannot win the war alone and that conventional artillery remains an important weapon against Russian forces holding positions they have consolidated in a months-long effort.

“This war somehow has a high-tech component and an old-school trench warfare component. Today’s modern war combines modern tactics with old-school tactics,” the Ukrainian military said.

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