Ukrainian drone forces are increasingly changing their approach to modern warfare, emphasizing data analysis, decentralized decision-making and rapid deployment of new technologies. This is what Robert "Magyar" Broddy, commander of Ukraine's drone forces, told The Wall Street Journal.
The author of the publication says that at the beginning of his conversation with Broddy, the electronic counter in his underground command post showed 302 Russian servicemen killed that day. By the end of the interview, this figure had increased to 343, "Focus" indicated.
Unmanned aerial vehicles make up approximately 2.5% of the Ukrainian army, but, according to estimates cited in the publication, they have generated approximately a third of the losses of Russian troops over the past year. Broddy attributes Ukraine's results not to numerical superiority, but to changes in the organization of the army. "A small, modern Ukrainian army is defeating the old Soviet system that existed in Ukraine", he says.
According to him, the participation of civilian specialists has made the military structure more flexible, and management is increasingly reminiscent of business processes - with planning, performance assessment and cost control.
The digital platform "Delta" plays a key role in this system. It integrates data from drones, sensors and other assets into a single network. Pilots can mark detected targets on a map, after which the information is immediately available to units that can respond without lengthy coordination of orders. Brody estimates that he delegates approximately 90% of combat decisions to his military. At the same time, each operation leaves a digital trail: the location, time, conditions, means used, target and result are recorded. Video and sensor data allow verification of whether the target was actually hit, which helps to avoid distortion of information about the battlefield situation.
The SBS commander places a serious emphasis on analyzing large amounts of data. Brody began systematically collecting it in 2022. Currently, his unit "Magyar's Birds" accumulates 10-12 terabytes of information daily. This data is used not only for combat management, but also to assess the effectiveness of various models of drones and weapons. Feedback from the front helps to quickly improve new systems.
According to Brody, Western militaries will also have to restructure their approaches. “The challenge is to build an ecosystem,“ he says. It is not about finding one “best” drone, but about creating a system in which cheap and sufficiently effective drones, software, intelligence, production and operational control work together, emphasizes Robert “Magyar” Brody to the WSJ.