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According to Ukrainian military sources, Russia’s dominance in visual intelligence gathering has been significantly reduced in recent months due to Ukraine’s innovative drone tactics. Prior to June 2023, Russian drones such as the Orlan-10, ZALA, and Supercam dominated the skies over Ukrainian positions, flying at altitudes of up to 5,000 meters, making them invulnerable to ground fire. Even attempts to jam their signals were often unsuccessful, as most Russian drones employed artificial intelligence algorithms that automatically directed them back to Russian territory if their GPS signal was disrupted.
Russian reconnaissance UAVs, which greatly outnumbered Ukrainian drones, played a critical role in identifying and targeting Ukrainian soldiers and equipment. Within 15 minutes to two hours of spotting an important target, the Russians were able to strike with deadly precision from up to 300 km behind the front line. For example, in March, two Patriot launchers en route from Germany to Ukraine were destroyed by Russian drones—an immense loss for Ukrainian forces.
However, on June 24, 2023, this dominance shifted. Ukrainian marines from the 38th Marine Brigade in Kherson, frustrated by continuous Russian surveillance and artillery fire, experimented by launching a small FPV suicide drone at maximum altitude to chase a Russian ZALA drone detected at 1,300 meters. The Ukrainian drone caught up and destroyed the ZALA, marking the first time a Ukrainian unit had downed a Russian reconnaissance UAV in this manner.
This tactic quickly spread among Ukrainian units, and by June, Ukrainian forces were sometimes taking down up to four enemy reconnaissance drones a day in the Kherson region alone. Notably, the cost of a Ukrainian modified FPV drone is around $600, while Russian drones like the ZALA can cost up to $40,000.
In response to this new threat, Russia has adapted by increasing the altitude and speed of their flights, flying more frequently at night, and camouflaging their UAVs. Some drones are even marked with deceptive Ukrainian insignia and equipped with rear-view cameras to watch for pursuing drones.
Ukrainian forces have also adapted, deploying high-altitude suicide drones with thermal imaging optics. They have discovered that the friction from air on the wings of Russian reconnaissance drones leaves a thermal trail, which can be tracked at night, allowing for more precise targeting of enemy UAVs.
Read also: Putin had been trying to turn Trump against Ukraine since 2017 – NYT
