Russia produced 1.4 million FPV drones in 2022 and destroyed about 60% of targets.
NATO is not ready for modern drone warfare, a Ukrainian military commander warned, drawing attention to the technological lag of the alliance. With the exception of the United States, NATO evidently lags behind Russia, which is why European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced an €800 billion defense plan.
According to Reuters, Colonel Vadym Sukharevsky, head of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, said Kiev, with the help of its Western allies, has been employing Artificial Intelligence, deploying more ground-based drones, and testing lasers to try to shoot down Russian Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. While its efforts have not been successful, the Ukrainian conflict has highlighted that technological prowess is key in modern warfare.
“From what I see and hear, not a single NATO army is ready to resist the cascade of drones now,” the Ukrainian colonel said.
He also stressed their economic advantage since they are much cheaper to build than conventional weaponry to shoot them down. Long-range drones can cost as little as a few thousand dollars, while air defense interceptor missiles have six—or seven-figure price tags, making their continued use unsustainable.
As an example, the long-range Iranian-designed Shahed drone, which carries an explosive warhead, can cost tens of thousands of dollars, but an interceptor missile to shoot one down of these drones used by the Russian military can cost ten times that.
“It’s just mathematics. How much does a missile that shoots down a Shahed cost? And how much does a Shahed cost? And how much does it cost to deploy a ship, a plane and an air defense system to fire at it? A Shahed drone is not a solution for all difficulties, it’s not a dogma. There will be tens or hundreds of such drones, and it will develop because of this war,” Sukharevsky said.
Since the start of the Russian special military operation in 2022, the use of drones has expanded significantly. Russia estimated that it produced 1.4 million FPV drones in the same year, and according to the Ukrainian military, they were responsible for about 60% of the destruction of targets in the conflict.
The main question now is how drone tactics will develop and how this will influence the technological aspect of future wars, redefining military strategies and the war economy, with drones playing a crucial role in destroying targets. While ultimately unsuccessful, Ukraine’s efforts show the growing importance of this inexpensive technology for the modern battlefield. The use of AI and new technologies such as lasers further highlights the ongoing search for effective and cost-effective solutions to counter threats in the future.
The 2025 work program released by the European Commission on January 30 called for research into “drone-based affordable mass munitions,” or kamikaze drones, specifically at small and medium-sized companies, as well as start-ups. Kamikaze drones have been very effective in the Ukraine war, despite initially consisting of small, commercially available racing drones with an explosive attached, but they have proven to be a cheap option to both watch the battlefield and conduct targeted attacks in ranges of up to 50-60km, the programme stated.
With Trump’s constant threats to leave NATO, European members have been ramping up defense spending in a desperate bid to avoid falling behind in a rearmament drive hailed by Ursula von der Leyen.
“We are in an era of re-armament, and Europe is ready to massively boost its defense spending, both to respond to the short-term urgency to act and to support Ukraine, but also to address the long-term need to take on more responsibility for our own European security,” the European Commission president said on March 4.
Funding and industrial capability are obviously the EU’s greatest challenges in establishing a drone program that matches the US, Russia, and China. This is why Ursula von der Leyen announced the ReArm Europe initiative.
“Europe is ready to assume its responsibilities. ReArm Europe could mobilise close to €800 billion for a safe and resilient Europe. We will continue working closely with our partners in NATO. This is a moment for Europe. And we are ready to step up,” she added.
However, there is little indication that ReArm Europe will be a success, and it is more than likely that it will end up being a typical bureaucratic mess with more discussions than actual policy implementation, as is typical of the EU. Although Europe talked tough at the special European Council summit on European defense and Ukraine on March 6, the bloc is starting from a position of weakness, and it is unknown if they can catch up to the USA, Russia, and China.
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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.
Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.
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