- American drones are not as efficient as those of other countries, such as that of China, in Ukraine.
- Drones are defective, expensive and get lost during flight, sources told The Wall Street Journal.
- These issues open the door for Ukraine to purchase drones from other manufacturers.
The drone war in Ukraine is constantly evolving and requires both sides to innovate quickly. But for Ukraine, a key partner is struggling to keep up and letting rivals fill the void.
American-made drones have not excelled on the battlefield, prompting Ukraine to turn to purchasing Chinese-made drones.
The problems with many U.S.-made drones, especially some of the smaller ones, are that they often do not perform as advertised or intended and easily have problems when targeted by Russian jamming, have sources told the Wall Street Journal.
They are fragile and vulnerable to electronic warfare. For some of the systems sent to Ukraine, problems included failing to take off, getting lost and not returning home, or simply not meeting mission expectations.
Part of the problem is that U.S. technology isn’t evolving fast enough, in part because of supply restrictions. Georgii Dubynskyi, Ukraine’s deputy minister for digital transformation, told the Journal that “what flies today may not fly tomorrow,” adding that the window for innovation in this conflict is small.
“The general reputation of every class of U.S. drone in Ukraine is that they don’t perform as well as other systems,” Adam Bry, chief executive of U.S. drone company Skydio, told the WSJ, acknowledging that his own drone is “not a very successful frontline platform.”
American drones are also generally much more expensive than comparable models. And at the rate Ukraine is burning them, this would not be feasible. Instead, Ukraine is turning to systems made by Chinese companies for cheaper and often more reliable alternatives.
Chinese DJI drones have long played a role in warfare, with Ukraine purchasing many models at retail. Ukrainian forces sometimes attach bombs directly to them to create a one-way attack drone or use them to drop grenades.
Ukraine has often made its own drones through crowdfunding. While this was successful, the sheer number of drones used in the war meant that both sides had to rely on multiple outlets to get what they needed. There is also support at the state level.
Russia has also relied on support from the government and private companies, but it also gets unmanned systems from partners, such as the Iranian-made Shaheds. Russia has even developed its own national version of this system. But Russia has also purchased drone technology made in China.
A Ukrainian serviceman assembles a reusable bomber drone in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, March 8, 2024. Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The reported The problems in the U.S. domestic drone industry are concerning given the Department of Defense’s focus on developing and fielding unmanned systems. Replicator, initially unveiled last August, is an initiative to field thousands of unmanned systems by August 2025.
“Pentagon officials say the Replicator initiative draws on lessons learned in the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, in which Ukraine has exploited large numbers of “cheap attributable systems” to counter the “Russian military advantage in terms of strength,” according to a Replicator document for Congress this March.
A few months after Replicator was first announced, several U.S. defense industry executives and other companies told Defense News that there was confusion around plans to build these drones. Many said the details of the program were unclear, especially given China’s dominance in smaller countries. drone industry.
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