Ukraine has a serious problem in securing enough soldiers, but it is achieving great success with drones - it is implementing innovations, and quickly, says an expert. Speaking to German TV channel ZDF, military expert Fabian Hinz noted that a Ukrainian naval drone recently managed to shoot down two Russian helicopters for the first time - and this clearly shows how important drones have become in the course of the war in Ukraine. Through various drones carrying air-to-air or surface-to-air missiles, as well as with the help of naval drones, opponents in the war are trying to surprise their enemy in every way.
Ukraine shoots down nearly 90% of "Shahed"
Fabian Hinz's opinion is that Russia is testing different variants of the Iranian "Shahed" drones, but Ukraine "is quite good at detecting and shooting them down". The military expert says that according to official data, which he believes largely corresponds to reality, Ukraine manages to shoot down almost 90% of these drones.
At the same time, he notes to ZDF that in its attacks with "Shahed" drones Russia is changing their altitude and speed, and in parallel, it regularly uses decoy drones that carry a very small amount of explosives, but deceive enemy detection systems by looking like Shahed combat drones. "This tactic has led to the fact that the number of Shaheds that manage to get through Ukrainian air defenses has increased in recent weeks," the expert said.
"The Ukrainians are doing well"
Hintz points out that Ukrainian units are performing well in defending against other types of drones. For example, some Ukrainian soldiers are specially trained to shoot down Russian FPV (First Person View) drones with hunting rifles - these are variants of drones in which the aircraft can be controlled remotely by the pilot using camera technology. "At first glance, shooting them down with hunting rifles sounds primitive, but it actually works relatively effectively. There are also attempts to intercept drones with other drones, which is more complicated," says Hinz.
The military expert explained to the German public-law media that the key to protecting against drones is to detect the attacking aircraft. And since this would require the largest possible radar coverage, which is expensive and complicated to provide, Ukraine is showing ingenuity in this regard. "For example, the Ukrainians have developed an acoustic identification system that can use relatively cheap microphones to detect the classic engine sounds emitted by the "Shahed" - this way they learn where the drone is approximately located.“
In addition, Ukraine is increasingly successful in jamming the radio communications of enemy drones. Russia, of course, can quickly re-adjust them. It's a kind of "cat and mouse game" in the field of innovation, but Ukraine is making good progress. Meanwhile, most of the systems used in the war are Ukrainian-made.
Russia is also experimenting
However, Russia is also innovating - by using drones directly on the front line. "With FPV drones, we are particularly seeing the use of glass fiber cables for guidance on the Russian side," Hinz explained to ZDF. "This means that the drone no longer has a radio connection, but an optical cable, through which the quality of data transmission is improved, the device cannot be detected by passive systems and is completely immune to interference."
In addition, Russia is experimenting by equipping its "Shahed" drones with Starlink antennas. This expands the bandwidth that allows for video control. Another experimental approach - equipping drones with SIM cards - could allow for the use of the Ukrainian mobile phone network, respectively - and more flexible control.
The lack of personnel cannot be compensated for with drones
In conclusion, Fabian Hinz notes that Ukraine is having difficulty providing personnel for the army - this is its biggest problem at the moment. And drones can be a solution to some extent. “If they have enough drone control teams - for example, for FPV drones, this will help their soldiers to be at a safer distance from the front line“. However, Ukraine cannot use innovations in the field of drones to cover the shortage of soldiers. “And technically, they haven't yet reached the point where one operator can, for example, service ten drones simultaneously“, says the expert.