Ukraine has announced the creation of a new military unit dedicated exclusively to drones.
The move speaks to the continued dominance of unmanned systems in warfare and the need to train soldiers to learn and adapt to the challenges of drone operations.
Ukraine presented the first details of Typhoon, a special operations unit within the Ukrainian National Guard focused on unmanned systems, at the Art Ukraine gallery this weekend.
“The National Guard, like all components of the Defense Forces of Ukraine, is also moving towards unmanned systems,” said Lt. Col. Maksym Skylar, head of the Department of Unmanned Systems of the National Guard of Ukraine, according to the state news agency Ukrinform.
“One of the stages of this development is the expansion of unmanned systems units, namely a separate detachment that will perform its tasks only with unmanned systems of different types,” Skylar added.
A video shared online by Ukraine shows members of the unit holding drones and wearing operator headsets.
Typhoon team members were also on hand to detail the unit’s plans, including a focus on providing operational support to combat brigades and learning how to use the latest unmanned systems.
Mykhailo Kmytyuk, the unit’s commander, said that one of the unit’s main advantages is training soldiers to use a variety of drones. Kmytyuk also called on interesting candidates, including gamers and engineers, to join the unit’s efforts.
A Ukrainian drone operator from the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade tests new military equipment, including FPV drones, at a training area in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. Getty Images
The specialized unit comes as the drone race between Russia and Ukraine intensifies.
Drones were used extensively throughout the war, from reconnaissance missions to surprise strikes against tanks and unsuspecting troops. But electronic warfare, and more specifically signal jamming, has ravaged the effectiveness of drones on the battlefield, scrambling the operator’s connection to their system.
Last month, evidence surfaced that Russia was using a fiber-optic drone in combat. This wired connection was considered an effective countermeasure for electronic warfare and signal jamming. Autonomous drones have also been used by both sides to adapt to this situation.
But these adaptations are just the latest in a long saga, as both sides develop new unmanned systems to maintain their advantage. Experts and observers of the war have described it as a game of cat and mouse, underscoring the importance that Russia and Ukraine place on developing effective new drone forces.
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