Mobile defense groups, modular defense systems, reprogramming and reuse - Ukraine has experience in drone defense with which it can help Europe against the new Russian threat.
In Kiev and its suburbs, it is an everyday occurrence: the familiar terrible sound of an approaching drone. Dmytro and his colleagues are tasked with protecting people from these uninvited guests - they are part of the mobile air defense system near the Ukrainian capital, ARD reports. They have heavy machine guns, large-caliber ammunition and are under constant pressure not to let a single drone in. “We work 24 hours a day. The nights are sleepless. It is hard, it requires serious physical effort, because there are not enough people. "Sometimes we work for days without a break," Dmytro told the German public media.
For months, Ukraine has been experiencing a new quality of war: Russia is attacking with more and more drones and missiles. They are launched en masse and in different variants with ever-increasing range and speed. For the defenders, this means they have to recognize and intercept the attacking devices - often within seconds.
Yaroslav, who is the commander of a mobile air defense unit, describes the psychological burden this way: “It's hard for me to watch the news. To see children dying or being injured. I am filled with suffering and anger. And my team suffers because I get angry and demand even more from them to be in shape".
The Russians are misleading in order to confuse
Many of the drones launched by Russia are mock-ups: simple cheap models with no or very little explosive. As Anatoly Krapchinsky, an Air Force reservist, explains to ARD, the Russians are able to launch hundreds of drones at once to overload the defense.
“The Russians send a lot of drones to make it harder to understand where there is a real threat and where there is not." But even if half of a wave is mock-ups, they have to be intercepted, which is an expensive and difficult process, Krapchinsky notes.
The situation on the Donbas front looks similar: there are drones everywhere, says Yuri from the 32nd brigade. "Everything you hear flying in the air wants to kill you. The more you hide, the harder it is to move. The threat is constant," says Yuri, urging: "Find some means of electronic warfare that will help us reduce the number of palms they attack us with. It's not enough to just shoot them down - there are just too many."
Tests, transformations, recycling
For Ukraine, testing, transformations, and recycling of equipment are everyday things. At a secret training base, downed Russian drones are being disassembled, reassembled, and reprogrammed - for training and for reuse on the front.
Drone expert Maxim Sheremet explains to ARD: “Our main task is to teach military engineers how to assemble drones, how to reprogram them, how, for example, a downed Russian drone can be reassembled and returned to them”.
Small companies and startups can provide in weeks what civilian manufacturers often need months to do. Thus, they provide the material that can be used immediately on the battlefield.
What can the West learn from Ukraine?
Ukraine's experience can be very useful to the West, especially in three directions, notes ARD.
- Reliable detection without gaps: Without a dense network for detecting drones, even the best defense will be ineffective, Krapchinsky points out. Small drones that do not fly at high altitudes can hardly be identified with classic radar. Only if the target is reliably and in time, including the height, speed and type of the device, can its downing be effective with the most appropriate defensive measure for the purpose - the most economically and tactically expedient.
- Multi-level defense system: Ukrainian practice shows that a multi-level system of cheap mobile defense weapons, such as the automatic cannons “Gepard" and electronic jamming devices, combined with high-quality systems for larger threats, are more resilient than concentrating on a few and expensive individual systems. Because classic systems, where each missile costs millions, are not an economically viable response to the "tsunami" of thousands of drones. Instead, Ukrainian units are relying on a combination of proven air defense, interceptor drones, electronic warfare means, and cheaper but solid solutions.
- Speed, modularity, local production: Ukraine has learned the importance of quickly prototyping, testing and producing in small series. Modular electronic countermeasures, cheaper interceptor drones and local production reduce dependence on supplies. Europe, which has a very fragmented arms industry, could benefit particularly from this.
Many limitations to defense
However, there are also limits to possible defense actions. For example, interceptor drones can only be used to a limited extent in certain weather conditions - cameras and thermal imagers do not function in fog, rain or snow.
In addition, artificial intelligence (AI) is also having an impact. “Whoever starts using fully autonomous drones with artificial intelligence first will have an advantage,” officer Krapchinsky told ARD. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also issued a warning to the UN: “It is a matter of time, and not long, until drones start fighting each other, attacking critical infrastructure and targeting people. Completely independently, completely autonomously and without human participation - except for the people who control the AI systems”.
”We already have a lot of experience in drone warfare. And it makes sense to use our experience,” says Dmytro from the mobile air defense in the Kyiv region to ARD.