War enters new stage as Russia accelerates creation of drone units – Syrskyi
The war has entered a new stage. By April 1 this year, Russia plans to increase the number of personnel in its unmanned systems forces to 101,000 troops.
This was reported in a Telegram post by Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, following a meeting on the development of unmanned systems, according to Ukrinform.
“At the meeting on the development of unmanned systems, intelligence reported that this year the Russians are accelerating the creation of UAV units in an attempt to influence the course of hostilities, particularly in southern directions where the enemy is losing initiative and territory. By April 1, Russia plans to increase the size of its unmanned systems forces to 101,000 personnel,” Syrskyi said.
According to him, the war has entered a new stage. The expansion of so-called “kill zones” is a consequence of the growing capabilities of strike UAVs. To win this technology-driven war, Ukraine must increase the pace of developing effective unmanned systems, purchasing them for the military, and deploying them on the battlefield.
The commander-in-chief added that Ukraine is successfully developing its own line of FPV drones with fiber-optic control. Over the past month, Ukrainian drones struck about 4,200 enemy drone operator positions.
“Overall, in February our drones hit more than 105,200 enemy targets. A quarter of them were accounted for by the grouping of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Syrskyi noted.
According to him, the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to maintain an advantage in the use of multirotor FPV drones, although Russia has already gained the capacity to produce more than 19,000 FPV drones per day.
Syrskyi also said that UAV interceptor platoons are being formed within units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to counter enemy strike drones. Their task is to destroy FPV drones, quadcopters, and other attack UAVs, as well as to improve logistics for Ukrainian troops. Anti-drone rifles, electronic warfare systems, and net guns are being used.
He also emphasized the importance of developing ground robotic systems.
According to Syrskyi, last month these systems carried out more than 2,300 missions, mostly logistical, but also engineering and combat tasks.
As reported by Ukrinform, the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed two expensive Russian reconnaissance drones Merlin-VR near Huliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Photo: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine