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Ukraine is still winning the Drone War!

During the Russian invasion, Ukraine was clearly the underdog. Russia has an overwhelming number of soldiers and is importing more from Syria and Lebanon. Russia has a huge advantage in numbers and types of weapons and tactical equipment.

All of the experts claimed that Russia would defeat Ukraine in days in the David and Goliath epic war. And Ukraine is waging a very successful drone war. Which may be the key to a hoped-for victory.

In all the comparisons, drones weren’t even considered. But in Ukraine development of an army of drones has been a vital consideration of their military.

AeroRozedka Drone War 

The elite AeroRozvedka is a tactical drone unit which does operations for both air reconnaissance and attack operations. And the Ukraine drone war being waged may be the key to victory.

Some of Aerorozvidka operations are dependent on Elon Musk's Starlink satellite system, activated in Ukraine days after the Russian invasion.

During the 5-week-old war with Russia it has become an even more vital part of the Ukraine fighting forces. The 30 members of the squad sometimes fly up to 300 missions a day in a combined effort. And the Ukraine Drone War is increasingly important. 

AeroRozedka attack squads use quad bikes and the cover or night on most ambush missions. And the Russian targets are pinpointed by camera drones in daylight and dark.

Some of the drones are equipped with thermal imaging cameras. And others have the capability dropping small, but deadly 1.5kg bombs.

The unit commander, Lt Col Yaroslav Honchar, listed some of the squad's victories in a recent article by The Guardian. And the British news also features amazing drone footage of the war in real time which is fed back to Bellingcat.

Drones were activated to get “eyes on” several high priority targets.  Honcar claims credit for a successful attack near the Ukrainian town of Ivankiv. With pinpoint accuracy the drones located and attacked a 40-mile Russian tank column headed to attack the capital city Kyiv.

Honchar also credits his team with an attack on the Russians' supply depot. Drones were also involved in half of the kill shots on high-ranking Russian commanders. And they beat back the Russian attack on Hostomel airport near Kyiv

"It all happened because of the work of 30 people," Honchar said.

Ironically, the unit relies on crowdfunding and donations. And it is having a problem getting much-needed components like modems and thermal imaging cameras. Most of these parts are made in the US and Canada. And they are still subjected to export controls that forbid them from being sent to Ukraine.

During the war supporters have been donating drone parts and other equipment. Now the drone unit has 3D printers and other supplies to help build and repair drones damaged by Russian small-arms fire.

100 US-made Switchblade Tactical drones are supposed to be sent to Ukraine from the $800 million in military aid promised by President Joe Biden. This would be a game-changer.  But the US is moving slower than the Europeans in getting military equipment directly in the hands of Ukraine fighters. 

Aerorozvidka dates back to 2014 

The group was formed by tech-savvy, university-educated Ukrainians who were fighting the 2014 Russian separatists in Crimea and the Donbas region. Its leader, investment banker Volodymyr Kochetkov-Sukach, was killed in action in 2015.

The unit merged into the Ukrainian army following its successful operations. And the drone war of 2022 is the result of 8 years of development.