Clear direction: – Very important

For several months now, Ukraine has been preparing a counter-offensive to recapture Russian-occupied regions of the country.

But since its launch on June 10, Ukrainian forces have made little progress on the battlefield.

Experts and defense officials believe this may be because Russia has changed tactics, and indicates, among other things, that the Russian military is now better equipped to counter the threat of Ukrainian drones. At the same time, they are increasingly using their drones.

It can provide many advantages, according to Norwegian experts.

– very important

Ukraine has far fewer – and older – combat aircraft than Russia, which means that during the war it was significantly inferior in the air.

However, the Ukrainian military has always been good at using drones in its warfare. Recently, drone activity has increased, both from the Russian and Ukrainian sides.

– It’s a natural progression. Throughout the war, it was seen how effective drones could be, and so both sides learned to incorporate them for different missions. The use of drones has become more sophisticated in recent times. It is a very important component of the war, retired Lieutenant General Arne Bord-Dalhough tells Dagbladet.

Lars Peder Haga, a Russian researcher and assistant professor at the Air Force Academy, explains that the reason small, short-range drones are so effective is because the war has been relatively static so far.

– The use of drones has been increasing throughout the war, but in recent times we have especially seen an increase in the use of so-called “FPV drones” (First Person View, journal.anm.), he says.

FVP drones enable the pilot to see what they are shooting in real time. This is done by connecting the drone’s camera directly to a monitor while it is in flight.

– When equipped with explosives, for example from an anti-tank grenade, it can be used to find and attack targets with great accuracy from a hidden position. “Ordinary” drones with a camera greatly facilitate the designation of various targets, as well as provide a good overview of the opponent. So such drones can provide insight into where it might be wise to attack, where you can expect an enemy attack and in which areas you should reinforce your defence, Haga explains.

Great benefits

Thus, both sides intensified the use of drones in the war. However, how the two countries use drones is somewhat different.

– Russia has long received so-called “suicide drones” or “kamikaze drones” from Iran. Previously, they were mostly used for attacks targeting infrastructure, but now they are also used quite actively on the battlefield, Dallhog explains.

Dalhoge noted that Ukraine has largely supplied smaller departments with drones.

– Groups of seven or eight more and more soldiers carry drones with them when they’re on the move. Now they almost never drive around the corner of a house without first checking the area with a drone. He is very wise, because if you see the enemy before he sees you, you have all the advantages on your side. And if you can see the enemy without them seeing you, you also have the opportunity to move the bombers toward the enemy without exposing yourself, he says.

In general, drones are very useful in warfare, according to experts.

– It opens up completely different possibilities than before, when people were largely dependent on manned aircraft. Now you don’t have to risk soldiers in the same way, and small and simple drones are of course much cheaper to buy and operate. This means low-level departments can get an overview of their immediate area from the air in a way they haven’t before, he says, stressing that it also takes a lot to train soldiers to use the technology properly.

He adds:

– Undoubtedly, there are many advantages to using drones in warfare, but this race is going very fast: the advantages come quickly, while the countermeasures develop at a tremendous speed. This means that these benefits rarely last over time.