How Ukraines drone army has changed the battlefield forever

KYIV — They’re small, but mighty — and deadly, too.The Ukrainian Armed Forces’ reliance on cheaper, more compact drones has altered the look of warfare for good, operators and experts tell The Post.Instead of the hulking craft used by nations like the US — which cost hundreds of millions of dollars — many of Ukraine’s aerial attacks against Russian forces are conducted with simple kamikaze drones worth between $300 and $1,000.If flown by an experienced pilot, a 6.5-pound drone found in any hobby shop can carry enough explosives to take out an armored vehicle, Andrii Federov, the co-founder and CEO of Ukraine-based Nomad Drones, told The Post on Wednesday.“If you hit it smartly in the vulnerable parts of a tank, you can even destroy a tank,” Federov said.“So basically, you can cause far more damage for a low cost.”“I think it changes pretty much everything,” he added of the kamikaze drones.

“This is modern warfare.”Drones are common in armed conflicts.The US has notably used them to conduct airstrikes against terror suspects in places like Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia and Syria.Since the last American forces left Afghanistan in August 2021, the US has relied heavily on drones to conduct so-called “over the horizon” operations, so named because they are done without putting troops on the ground nearby.What sets Ukraine’s drone operations apart is the type of craft — typically measuring between eight and 12 inches — that can be used and the frequency with which they can be manufactured.Nomad alone builds “thousands” of drones per month with a workforce of roughly 60 employees, according to Federov, who declined to give exact production figures, citing operational security.The Ukrainian reliance on drones was partly born out of necessity.

With artillery shells increasingly difficult to source — the American and European defense industries have struggled to keep up production at the rate Kyiv needs — Ukraine improvised and c...