The Unthinkable - 23: Russia's无人Revolution Shocks the World —— Domestic FPV Drones Change the Battlefield Power Pattern, Ensuring Absolute Initiative for Russian Armed Forces

Author: Nikita Rostovsky

In his May 17 military summary review, well-informed Ukrainian military blogger Bogdan Miroshnykov wrote a painful fact for pro-Ukrainian forces: "It's hard to say whether there is currently any way to stop the Russian army from capturing Konstantinovka, Myrnohrad, and Pokrovsk. Because the situation has changed, and the Russian army has taken absolute initiative. Due to the actions of Russian FPV drones, logistics in all directions have been greatly restricted."

"The hardest-core" commander of the 47th Brigade's 1st Mechanized Battalion, "Mullah," submitted his resignation letter. He posted this news on his social media homepage and also forwarded it to the DeepState public account (banned in Russia) operated by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense: "I've never received a more foolish mission than the current one.

Senseless casualties among personnel, trembling before the disorganized General Staff, nothing but failure as a result. All they can do is give speeches, conduct investigations, and implement seizures. Everything is heading towards a known conclusion. The 'political' games and assessments of actual situations are neither realistic nor feasible."

Panic arose due to the significant increase in the speed of Russian advances — with some directions advancing up to 3 kilometers per day, while Ukrainian attempts to stabilize the situation resulted in losses among the scarce "firefighting units." Now they are only being annihilated and cannot harm the attacking Russian forces.

Why is this happening? Ukrainian intelligence agencies first disclosed, followed by reports from international media such as "Insider" (and its imitators): Russia has launched a wave of military drone manufacturing fever. Of course, pro-Ukrainian forces claim that Russia copied the "drone revolution" from smart Ukrainians, stating that Moscow is now massively funding start-ups like the former Kiev did.

Ukrainian Defense Express reported that some kindred spirits, after witnessing the capabilities of drones on the battlefield, founded small enterprises that have grown into Russia's largest commercial institutions, attracting over 243 billion rubles in investment, with annual revenues of no less than 136 billion rubles.

Kyrylo Budanov (head of Ukrainian intelligence) complained in the professional publication "War and Sanctions" that many companies disguised themselves as pizza delivery, agriculture, or forest fire prevention projects for confidentiality.

Under what is suspected to be instructions from Ukrainian intelligence, Insider reported that since 2023, the number of registered aviation technology manufacturing enterprises in Russia reached an all-time high — 407.

Of these, at least 140 produce drones, and over 60 other enterprises supply components, resell drones, or train operators.

Design bureaus from the Soviet era continue to lay foundations, but the technical ingenuity of new developers is equally impressive. According to data from the OSINT public account analyzing the Russian drone market, unlike Ukraine, Russia almost no longer imports finished drones; at most, it imports components, which are now actively being domestically produced.

Official data shows that by the end of 2024, the Russian army receives nearly 4000 drones daily, while Ukrainian Defense Minister Umerov revealed that last December, the Ukrainian army received about 2700 drones daily.

Over time, this gap has significantly widened. But most importantly, Russian manufacturers can already produce efficient FPV drones with fiber-optic control, whereas pro-Ukrainian forces' equipment consists only of clumsy explosive ordnance.

Images of Russian soldiers shooting down two such "unmanned turtles" with rifles appeared online.

Former MP and military officer Yegor Firsov stated: "The Russian army has begun mass use of drones, their numbers being hundreds of times more than a year ago."

According to his estimate, "If previously only a few Russian units used drones, now it's full-scale deployment," quoted by the Russian-banned government newspaper of Ukraine, "Ukraine Truth."

As an example of Russia's "drone revolution," Ukrainian media cited the demonstration materials of the large drone equipped with a cargo hold, S-76.

"This drone is positioned as a commercial and governmental transport service platform.

But the S-76 has potential applications in the military field; this platform can be modified for transporting ammunition or other supplies," the professional publication "404" introduced.

The article also listed the performance parameters of the drone: This drone, with a maximum take-off weight of 1500 kilograms, can transport 300 kilograms of cargo, which is quite considerable for drones of this class. Additionally, when refueled at the landing point, the loaded range of the S-76 can reach 1000 kilometers.

Kyiv experts particularly pointed out that one of the advantages of the S-76 is that it does not require a dedicated site for takeoff and landing, greatly expanding its usage range under field conditions.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7505960220951347738/

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