Inside Ukraine's UAV program to counter Russia

Ukraine is increasingly using low-cost UAVs to attack Russian territory, but Kiev's program also faces some challenges.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on September 4 that it had repelled a Ukrainian drone attack on the border province of Kursk and the Crimean peninsula, with several aircraft shot down. Roman Starovoit, governor of Kursk province, said the attack set a building on fire in the city of Kurchatov but caused no casualties.

This is one of a series of UAV attacks on targets in Russia in recent weeks, some of which have caused significant damage. On August 30, an attack on the airport in the city of Pskov, the capital of the same region, damaged four Ilyushin Il-76 heavy transport aircraft. This is believed to be the largest large-scale UAV attack on Russian territory.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned last month that “war is coming to the Russians”, as the country’s iconic cities and military bases became targets of drones.

Challenges for Ukraine's UAV program — The image of the fire was posted by Pskov Governor Mikhail Vedernikov on Telegram on August 30. Video: *Telegram/MV_007_Pskov*

Since the outbreak of hostilities, Russia has carried out repeated long-range airstrikes targeting Ukraine’s vital infrastructure using missiles and UAVs. Meanwhile, Kiev has no ability to respond adequately, as its air force is outnumbered in all aspects, while the West does not allow Ukraine to use its long-range weapons to attack targets on Russian territory.

That has forced the Ukrainian military to find other ways to respond to Russia. One tactic Kiev has recently adopted is to repurpose older missile systems, including the S-200, to strike at long ranges. Repurposed S-200s have been used to launch multiple strikes deep into Russian territory, including the July 28 attack on Rostov Oblast.

In parallel with modifying old missiles, Ukraine is also promoting the development of new UAV models. One of Ukraine's current potential UAV models is "Morok", a privately developed high-speed suicide UAV that can carry a large amount of explosives with an operating range of up to several hundred kilometers.

Morok was one of the UAVs used in the attack on a military base in Crimea on August 25. Russia did not disclose information about the damage caused by the attack, but said it had intercepted several UAVs in the sky over Crimea that day.

Ukrainian officials believe that using UAVs to strike deep inside Russian territory is a way to increase psychological pressure, make the Russians realize the brutal reality of war and stop supporting the military campaign. In addition, this tactic also directly supports Ukraine's counteroffensive campaign by targeting important enemy infrastructure.

"The targets of the UAVs are fuel depots, logistics facilities, ammunition depots and transport routes," said the UAV operator, codenamed "Detective" by Ukrainian intelligence. "The soldiers on the front lines know where the Russian weapons are stored, but they have no way to destroy them, and we do it for them."

A building was attacked by a UAV in the Russian capital Moscow on August 18. Photo: Reuters — A building was attacked by a UAV in the Russian capital Moscow on August 18. Photo: *Reuters*

According to the Economist , Russia has a dense air defense system and modern electronic warfare capabilities, including a 60-km-long jamming barrier in the border area. To counter this, Ukraine uses information from Western intelligence to determine the location of enemy air defense weapons, thereby finding loopholes to plan attacks.

In addition, Kiev also applied some tactics such as conducting raids in the early morning, when the enemy often neglected its defenses, or continuously attacking the same place to overload the air defense network. About 35-40% of Ukrainian UAVs are said to have penetrated the Russian defenses to reach the target.

In an interview with Focus magazine, Serhiy Bezkrestnov, an electronic warfare expert for the Ukrainian military, said that UAVs are most easily detected if they emit radio signals and are identified and suppressed by enemy reconnaissance weapons.

"If the UAV does not emit any signal, the enemy can only rely on air defense systems. Ukrainian attack UAVs, similar to Iran's Shahed model, automatically fly to the target based on GPS coordinates without emitting any signal," Bezkrestnov said.

According to this expert, the success of the attack depends on the accuracy of the pre-installed target data and flight path. Ukrainian UAVs are also made of materials that reduce radar reflection, making them easier to "stealth" from enemy air defense systems.

Retired Colonel Vladislav Seleznev, former spokesman for the General Staff of the Ukrainian army, said the tactic of using a series of cheap UAVs for attacks is proving effective in eroding Russia's military capabilities, as small planes carrying 4-5 kg of explosives can destroy Moscow's valuable military aircraft.

Seleznev said Ukraine is using about 25 different types of UAVs, including models from the private company SYPAQ, which are much cheaper than Iran's Shahed model.

However, Ukraine’s UAV program still has a number of problems, including the lack of a unified command and control structure. Ukraine’s military, intelligence, security forces, and private organizations all develop their own UAV programs without coordination. This increases competitiveness and security, but hinders the optimization of UAV features and production.

Potential development projects of private companies such as "Morok" do not receive financial support from the government, so they have difficulty entering mass production. Persistent corruption, bureaucracy and vested interests in the defense industry, as well as a lack of components and specialists, are also challenges facing Ukraine.

According to a Ukrainian military source, the country had three times as many tactical UAVs as Russia at the beginning of the war, but now “this difference has been eliminated.” The Economist reports that Russia has recently introduced a number of electronic warfare weapons that can be mounted on tanks and other vehicles, reducing the effectiveness of Ukrainian UAVs.

In July, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced a budget allocation of $1.1 billion to invest in the UAV sector. Kiev aims to produce or purchase a total of 180,000-200,000 UAVs this year.

"The conflict is bringing many challenges and one of them is military technology. We have to stay one step ahead of the enemy and protect our soldiers. UAVs will help us do that," Mr. Shmyhal emphasized.

Pham Giang (According to Economist, TASS )

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