"Global problems of modernity" is being studied as a separate discipline in senior years at Ukrainian universities. It may vary in contents, but military conflicts around the world are unlikely to bypass this discipline. In 2021, at a class in this discipline, I spoke about future military technologies.

"Just imagine how upset one of the parties to the conflict will be when they see a swarm of explosive UAVs equipped with a self-guidance capability," I told the audience, impressed by a video showing the use of kamikaze drones in the war in Syria in 2018-2019.

Listening to my flashbacks, the First Deputy Commander of the National Guard of Ukraine (Chief of Staff), Brigadier General Vadym Hladkov smiles with bitter irony. My following deliberations about how copters are used in archaeological reconnaissance and filming excavations perhaps seems somewhat naive. After all, the "armed conflicts of the future" are already here: in the Russian-Ukrainian war, drones of various kinds play an extremely important role, especially in "positional" war.

"As a soldier told me, drones don't fly above us, they live above us,” says the commander of the National Guards’ UAV division.

At one of the locations, he shows me drones of various types – both for reconnaissance and for strikes. Locally made reconnaissance UAV Leleka (‘Stork’) stands apart.

"This is the DJI ‘Enterprise”, a drone that can range up to 5 km. We deploy it for tactical reconnaissance missions. Then there is "Matrice-30", popularly known as ‘mattress’. Equipped with zoom cameras, it can travel up to 15 kilometers from the launch site, and fly for up to 40 minutes. Incidentally, we almost never use non-zoom cameras anymore: if it flies too close to its target, it’s inevitable it will be shot down," Brigadier General Hladkov explains.

In this atmosphere, surrounded by drones, the deputy commander of the National Guard gave his first interview, in which we conversed about how Ukrainian and Russian armies compare in terms of the drone fleets available to them, how our soldiers counteract hostile UAV attacks, how EW technologies are developing, and what drones will become like in a decade.

ONE BRIGADE SPENDS UP TO A TEN SURVEILLANCE DRONES EVERY DAY

- Mr. Vadim, 2023 became the year of drones on the battlefield, will this trend continue into 2024?

- National Guard units, joined with other elements of the Defense Forces, perform tasks along the entire front line. Everyone has heard of our Offensive Guard brigades, units of the OMEGA Special Forces Center, as well as other units that have been quite effective fending off the attempts by the Russian Federation to seize our territories since the first days of the full-scale invasion, and in particular since 2014.

Currently, there have been seen lots of changes in technology, training and tactics. The war changes, and with it, the army and the war-waging assets. The unmanned systems sector has seen a rapid evolution in Ukraine recently, and the Unmanned Systems Forces have been organized as a separate branch of the Armed Forces. This is the demand of the time, and this element has been intensively integrated into the National Guard among other armed services.

We are analyzing the situation, continuing to increase efforts to develop unmanned system technologies. We have an understanding of how many and of what quality drones we want to have, at what frequencies they should operate, and how far away they should be able to fly and hit targets. Efforts in the domain of electronic warfare, too, are being intensified.

UAV units are currently indispensable for all those who performs tasks, from reconnaissance, adjustment of fire, and up to the deployment of drones against enemy personnel, equipment, and positions. UAVs are also deployed with intervention brigades, Special Forces detachments, and there are also separate UAV units. Pursuant to the NGU’s unmanned systems development concept, unified approaches to the training of unmanned systems operator crews have been developed. I will not reveal all the details and plans, but we are working to enhance this domain among others. The outputs will be there for the enemy to see soon.

The adversary, too, is developing technology in this domain. The Russians are increasing their drone fleet, altering command and control links, constantly trying to overcome our electronic countermeasures. Accordingly, we are responding to such efforts, seeking to more effectively use the means that we have in our arsenal or introducing in it.

Basically, until 2023, our units had not deployed drones that massively, because they are expensive. Each Mavic-3, for example, costs in excess UAH 100,000 and more, depending on the modification. Before the full-scale invasion and even in the first year of the Great War, it was quite difficult to buy them, until the government intervened in the process, helping to develop and finance efforts in this domain, and there were changes made to the regulations that define relevant product range.

- Was there help coming from volunteers?

- Volunteers cannot provide many drones, albeit their role and help have been significant, indeed, especially during these two and a half years. Each brigade can spend up to ten reconnaissance drones alone every day. As for first-person-view (FPV) drones, the consumption is many times higher, especially where there is heavy fighting in a particular sector of the frontline or the enemy is continuously assaulting.

- Is that the case as of today?

- Yes, today and for the short-term future. A drone can crash due to weather conditions: in winter, for example, due to freezing on the body or propellers. It can crash under the influence of electronic countermeasures. At the same time, it can be shot down physically, even with certain types of small arms; where it flies low, it can be downed.

So, when everyone realized that there is nowhere without drones, an intense effort began to be given to developing unmanned systems units and production of drones. Under government-funded programs, we started receiving drones, both FPVs and for reconnaissance, in large quantities. We have production capacities of our own.

CURRENTLY, THERE IS NOT A SINGLE STRETCH OF THE FRONTLINE WITHOUT A DRONE HANGING OVER IT SURVEYING THE BATTLEFIELD SITUATION

- How do you think Ukrainian and Russian armies differ in terms the drone numbers available to them?

- On the tactical level - Mavic, Matrice, FPV – the quantities seem to be equal, there is some kind of parity. The Russians have more reconnaissance UAVs, such as ZALA or Orlan (that are both capable of flight ranges of up to 120 km - ed.). But there is no parity in the amount of artillery guns; where the fighting is fierce, the adversary constantly tries to use artillery in large amounts, firing hundreds and thousands of rounds every day.

- So, we require more drones for reconnaissance?

Drones of all kinds are required, but reconnaissance drones are a must-have. Currently, there is not a single stretch of the frontline without a drone hanging over it surveying the battlefield situation. Moreover, it is the drone operator who provides a warning to a command and control post or to soldiers in entrenchments that a group of infantry are advancing on them. They can’t see the enemy, but the drone can, and our soldiers are already on guard to face the assault.

Where the drone cannot see the enemy, the assault will be more difficult to fend off, and it will be more costly in terms of the time and resources consumed. The best option would be to detect an attempted assault in advance, at the stage the assault is being prepared for or begins to advance. I think that both we and our adversary will move on to intensive use of drones for all tasks in the next few years.

Basically, there are never enough weapons. As long as intense hostilities are going on, there will be no such thing as sufficient amounts of drones or artillery.

- But officials are stating from time to time that Ukraine is increasing the production of weapons.

- Yes, we are increasing production, but the adversary is doing the same. We already have own workshops, where we assemble drones, improve them. There are also facilities in place to make adjustments or repairs, remove imperfections or manufacturing defects that happen sometimes.

- What exactly is being improved? Antennas, controllers?

- Yes, these are improved among other components such as power supplies, control boards, reset systems and more. This allows for increased effectiveness and efficiency of drone deployments as well as enhanced resilience to electronic countermeasures.

THE FUTURE OF DRONES IS IN TERMINAL GUIDANCE SYSTEMS

- Recently, reports emerged that Ukraine’s Armed Forces are going to receive new unmanned bomber named "Black Widow". Drones of what particular type would you like to have in your arsenal?

- In drones, we are most interested in capabilities such as takeoff performance, controllability, and high resilience to jamming attacks. Also of importance is a capability for a drone, if it loses control signal, to fly back to home base, not to fall somewhere else.

We already have drones of certain types, like the Vampire, for example (that can carry up to four rounds of ammunition, - ed.), the Heavy Shot (up to 40 kg of bomb load - ed.), Black Widow - let's wait and see how effectively they will be deployed. But there are always matters of cost, effectiveness and efficiency, sustainability, and availability. Seeing how unmanned systems are currently developing in Ukraine, we adapt their deployments and specifications to changing needs quite quickly.

- What about the drones equipped with a terminal guidance capability?

- As far as I know, specialist engineers are working on "machine vision". Certain outputs have been achieved, to be followed up with technical tests in the future.

- What advantages do machine vision or terminal guidance technology provide?

- This technology is advantageous in that it enables more automated control and target lock-on. The pilot does not need to guide the drone all the way to impact. He just needs to mark a target at 200-400 meters away (as far as the range permits), push the button, and then the drone does its job without further operator’s intervention.

PREVIOUSLY, ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES WERE DEPLOYED AGAINST HOSTILE RECONNAISSANCE SYSTEMS, NOW –AGAINST FIRES, TOO

- What about the development of electronic warfare technologies?

- We are currently developing technologies in this domain as well. There has been set up an institutional staff structure, there is an experience and expertise in deploying such capabilities immediately on the battlefield. Previously, electronic countermeasures were deployed against hostile reconnaissance systems, now they are deployed against fires, too.

Previously, electronic warfare was used to jam hostile reconnaissance and communication links, but now we have to counter hostile means of destruction as well. It is primarily about UAVs of various types.

That being said, it is necessary to appreciate that EW systems are not a panacea, as they are not hard to overcome or bypass. Heading, range, altitude - these characteristics must all be factored in. Failing this, after all, the enemy will be able to act.

WE ARE OPTIMIZING THE INSTITUTIONAL AND STAFF STRUCTURE SO THAT UNITS ARE EFFECTIVE

- How does the National Guard improve drone deployment tactics? How are operators trained?

- Taking into account the war experience, battlefield realities and technology advances, we are transforming the institutional and staff structure, adjusting it to the current realities and challenges confronting us, so that our units are effective and soldiers’ lives are preserved.

We currently have three separate units involved with unmanned systems. One such was organized in 2022, and two others, named Omega Wings and Typhoon, have been organized this year. They are currently enhancing their capabilities, particularly in terms of the strength of personnel. These are mainly young guys and girls who have a knack for gaming, computer technology, who have an understanding of how to operate a drone, how to mitigate certain factors that interfere with normal operation of the drone.

On a parallel track, we have set up a center to evaluate how effectively UAVs are deployed and operated. Employees at the center analyze the performance of tasks by UAV units.

- How long does it take to train a proficient drone operator?

- Basically, the training takes no longer that four weeks. And then the would-be operator is trained in more specialized skills, depending on the type of the UAV, and then applies them in practice. There are also those who come to serve in the military already having good skills, and so it takes less time to train them.

- I know that we, in one way or another, are improving our drones for frontline deployments. Do you know of instances where Russians stole technologies from us and then used them?

- With drones, which have wide-ranging applications and are present in all units - the adversary can just replicate and investigate specific aspects of their deployment that make them advantageous over theirs.  Indeed, the adversary is more interested in those drones that are, let’s say so, not publicly accessible, but are of Ukraine’s indigenous design.

- How many drones do we need to win the war?

-- It’s hard for me to say until there is a definition of what victory should be like. Will they solve all our problems if there are lots of them? Of course not. Winning the war is a complex challenge faced by our Defense Forces, our State. Drones are a great auxiliary component that supplements and enhances all other capabilities and forces.

Interviewed by Svitlana Tkachuk, Kyiv

Photo Credit: Pavlo Bagmut