https://defence-blog.com/russia-follows-ukraine-in-creating-drone-forces/
Russia plans to create a new branch of its military dedicated to unmanned systems, the "Unmanned Systems Forces," by the third quarter of 2025.
The announcement was made by Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, signaling an intensified focus on drone warfare amid rapidly evolving military technologies.
"In accordance with the directive of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, it is proposed to form a new branch of the military—the Unmanned Systems Forces. With your approval, we will complete its establishment by the third quarter of next year," Belousov said during a defense briefing.
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Belousov highlighted the extensive use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by Russian forces, stating that over 3,500 drones are deployed daily and that this number "continues to grow." According to the Russian Defense Ministry, their air defense systems have intercepted more than 27,000 drones in 2024 alone, underscoring the growing role of UAVs in modern conflict.
Russia's move to formalize its drone operations into a separate branch comes in the wake of Ukraine's pioneering efforts in this domain. In the summer of 2023, Ukraine became the first country to establish an independent military branch dedicated to drone systems, the Unmanned Systems Forces. This initiative has been pivotal in Ukraine's defense strategy, reflecting the technological advancements and challenges posed by its ongoing war with Russian forces.
Ukraine's early adoption of an unmanned systems branch demonstrated the strategic advantages of a specialized force, particularly in countering traditional military tactics and enhancing reconnaissance, targeting, and precision strikes. The effectiveness of such forces has likely influenced Russia's decision to create its own equivalent.
For Russia, this move not only reflects its acknowledgment of the success of unmanned systems in Ukraine but also its aim to maintain technological parity in an increasingly competitive field.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Wednesday December 18, @09:39PM (2 children)
Everybody knows serious countries have a Marvel-style Space Force, complete with a plastic Star Trek insignia.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday December 18, @10:05PM
Gotta get the payload delivered faster, them drones are too slow.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by driverless on Friday December 20, @05:05AM
Yeah but don't forget this is Rashka we're talking about, not the US. They've already ordered several containerloads of duct tape but their Aliexpress order for the rest of the parts has been held up due to a dispute over whether the ruble is worth 1/20th or 1/50th of a yuan.
Also their military bloggers are still being prepped to tell everyone that Rashka had drones decades before anyone else, in fact they were a Russian invention all along, and that the drones have already killed 300% of all NATO forces in Ukraine.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Snotnose on Wednesday December 18, @10:06PM (3 children)
These things are cheap and modifications are limited by your imagination. Fortunately I suspect it won't take long for anti-drone tech to develop. If they can hit a jet/cruise missile going 600 MPH then I'm pretty sure they'll soon be able to shoot down drones cheaply.
Of course I'm against DEI. Donald, Eric, and Ivanka.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday December 18, @10:19PM (2 children)
>Fortunately I suspect it won't take long for anti-drone tech to develop.
I was employed developing cheap drones for military use in 2009, they've been going since long before that.
In 2009 we had zero countermeasures hardening, because the Iraq/Afghanistan theater had basically zero countermeasures deployed at the time.
It will be an ever-escalating arms race, and I'm 100% certain that if we had continued developing our autopilot past 2012, by 2015 we could have easily eliminated GPS dependence and hardened various other operational aspects against at least the easiest of countermeasures that were being occasionally deployed at the time.
The biggest impediment to drone development and deployment by small US companies in the 2010s: US regulations. So, the rest of the world had superior funding and years of superior development and field experience.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday December 19, @01:41AM (1 child)
So what you're saying is that the US did deploy anti-drone countermeasures!
(Score: 4, Touché) by JoeMerchant on Thursday December 19, @04:44PM
> the US did deploy anti-drone countermeasures!
Of the most effective kind: economic sanctions.
Unfortunately, they were only deployed against US based drone developers.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by ElizabethGreene on Wednesday December 18, @10:55PM (5 children)
If you're following this closely, Ukraine is running laps around Russia technologically with how fast they are developing drone tech. They've come a long way from ISIS' 3D printed grenade and mortar droppers. They are now mass-producing remote command and detonation impact devices with full FPV and the kill footage is devastating. They'll literally fly down a tank hatch or into the back of a truck and blow. Taking out a million-dollar tank with a sub-$1k drone is crushing. Our Javelins cost $78k, for comparison.
The best countermeasure Russia has had is high power electronic warfare transmitters that block the FPV and control signals, physically burning out the pre-amps on the receivers. The response to this, and it's something they've only started rolling out in the last couple of months, is to mount kilometers of fiber optic cable onto the drone that unspools as it flies. This makes it immune to ECM interference, and then they fly them like a moth to a flame into the ECM crews. Poof. Also, since the UAV crews don't have to get high and exposed for radio reception, it has significantly improved their survivability. There's more. Autonomous boats, operating in swarms, heavy lift drones for mining or dropping ordinance on hard targets, extended loiter drones for reconnaissance. Wheeled drones UWV? that lay mines and hunt down targets, it's scary.
The most "innovative" thing I've seen from the Russian side is a passive drone detector to warn troops when non-fibered units approach the AO, and a, I shit you not, WOODEN CRATE heavy lift drone made from attaching four conventional quadcopters to a (you guessed it) wooden crate. The Russians are using centralized R&D against very clever motivated nerds with wide operational leeway to innovate. I do not envy them at all.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday December 18, @11:33PM (4 children)
FPV is still where it's at for targeting.
We did a slow (15-40 knots) fixed wing FPV competition vs the much faster switchblade (~80 knots) about 15 years ago. The switchblade " had technical issues" and declined to even attempt the target after our FPV pilot hit a full kill bullseye.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by PiMuNu on Thursday December 19, @04:20PM (3 children)
For those not in the know FPV means First Person View e.g. VR headset on the ground crew and cameras on the drone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-person_view_(radio_control) [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 5, Funny) by JoeMerchant on Thursday December 19, @04:47PM (2 children)
Yeah, after dialing in the 9DOF IMU to the GPS shielded from the ESC, FPV just seems obvious...
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by AnonTechie on Thursday December 19, @09:03PM (1 child)
Acronym Blindness: Navigating the Alphabet Soup of Modern Communication (An interesting article about the overuse of acronyms and possible solutions to overcome this)
https://futuristspeaker.com/futurist-thomas-frey-insights/acronym-blindness-navigating-the-alphabet-soup-of-modern-communication/ [futuristspeaker.com]
Albert Einstein - "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
(Score: 3, Touché) by cmdrklarg on Thursday December 19, @10:51PM
^
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Card carrying member of the AAAAA*
* American Association Against Acronym Abuse
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.