The advent of drones has fundamentally changed how wars are fought. During the course of my military service, unmanned systems have gone from taking a supporting role, to becoming the central element of combat operations.
Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine is driving not only the employment of drones – but also their innovation, which has sparked an arms race between both sides of the war.
While state actors, such as China and Iran, have centralized Russia’s drone supply, Ukraine’s supply is sourced from within Ukraine and in partnership with Western defense innovators. Ukraine’s decentralized strategy has enabled them to survive and at times thrive, while making it difficult for Russia to target a more centralized operation. However, this approach has notable downsides, which necessitates change in the relationship between Western defense technology companies and the Ukrainian military units they support.
Across my career, I have seen the innovation and employment of unmanned systems on the battlefield. While serving in Afghanistan as a platoon leader in 2020, I saw the application of cheap quadcopter UAVs for surveillance by unfriendly forces. Likewise, when deployed to Syria as the RUSMIL (Russian Military) Forces Expert to work directly against the Russian presence in country after their full scale invasion of Ukraine earlier that year, I witnessed these technologies’ role grow ever wider as the earlier version of Shaheds by Iran, and the Orlans by RUSMIL were in widespread use. Even at this early stage of battlefield drone operations it was clear that defending bases against this new threat would become acutely challenging.
I have carefully tracked the changes in drone technology throughout my post – Army life, including while volunteering in Ukraine over recent years, providing medical supplies to frontline units in Borova, Izyum, and Kupyansk. It is well known that traditional military equipment, such as armor and artillery, has become increasingly obsolete in favor of unmanned systems. On today’s battlefield in Ukraine drones perform a wide array of operations including but not limited to logistics, medical evacuation, direct and indirect fire, intelligence, and obstacle employment.
With ever-increasing reliance on unmanned systems for combat operations, effective logistics in this sphere is vital for keeping Ukraine in this fight, which raises the question: How can we assure Ukraine receives optimal drone solutions?
Ukrainian units are generally very willing to test drones for Western defense technology companies, yet often never receive any benefit from their efforts. The units provide feedback to these companies, only for the company to sell the equipment unaltered with a “Tested in Ukraine” sticker.
This current system is unsustainable, as Western defense companies are failing to keep up with the unmanned systems arms race
However, by the time a company tests and produces an unmanned system it is often obsolete by the time it makes it to the battlefield. I have even heard of cases when drones were tested and developed by unfriendly forces against Ukraine, later being sold with this “Tested in Ukraine” sticker.
This current system is unsustainable, as Western defense companies are failing to keep up with the unmanned systems arms race. Furthermore, Ukrainian units often do not see any operational benefit for their subject matter expertise. However, it does not need to be this way.
To alleviate these issues, it is necessary to adapt the current system to long term partnerships between Western defense technology companies and Ukrainian military units. In the modern world Ukraine’s most valuable recourse is its subject matter expertise in unmanned systems – which is why units should only test systems if the companies agree to employ the units’ recommendations and agree to send a certain percentage of production to the front. This would allow the Ukrainian units to control the quality of the product they receive, while the number received increases with production.
Companies also benefit from this arrangement, as it assures that the relationship will be continuous and direct, allowing for real-time innovation.
Eventually this should allow for Ukraine to develop “Tested in Ukraine” as the standard for drone sales, and the unmanned systems should be certified and sold as tested by individual units. Units then benefit not only from trying new technologies, but from being in close and continuing contact with Western firms, which renumerate them for their contributions to the drones’ development – all while assuring units get the exact technology they need and something that that will proudly carry the brand “Made in Ukraine.”
The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.