The "cat and mouse" battle using UAVs on the Russia - Ukraine front line

Ukrainian soldiers operate UAVs on the front line (Photo: Reuters).

As a Ukrainian rocket flew toward a Russian radar system, soldiers in Kiev's UAV unit held their breath in anticipation.

“There’s still about a minute left,” said Soliara, 46, the drone operator, before silence fell over their control vehicle, which was packed with screens and cables and hidden behind a fence in the northwestern Kharkiv region.

Mr. Soliara’s unit belongs to the 15th Independent Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade. They operate “Shark,” a Ukrainian-made drone with advanced technology that includes cameras that can sometimes read letters on clothing from 2 kilometers above the ground.

The Shark is a weapon in a domestic drone program that Ukraine has been developing since Russia launched its military campaign in its neighbor.

After the servicemen reconnected with the Shark, they saw a smoky crater 50 meters from the Russian radar system. Meanwhile, the Moscow equipment accelerated to move to safety.

According to Reuters , the above attack and interception is part of a complex "cat and mouse" game that Russia and Ukraine are conducting along a front line of more than 1,000km.

Each side will continuously launch new UAVs to the front line, implement new attack tactics, and the other side will study how to respond, intercept, and create a situation of mutual pursuit. This process is continuous because UAVs are considered the most important weapon in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Russia has its own massive fleet of UAVs, as well as sophisticated EW systems that can disrupt the signals of remotely piloted drones and cause guided munitions to go astray.

“They added EW systems operating on other frequencies, they learned to hide precisely, they moved the air defense complex to new locations,” Mr. Soliara said.

Close-up of a Ukrainian Shark UAV (Photo: Reuters).

However, according to Ukrainian soldiers, Shark had previously been a powerful assistant helping Kiev destroy many valuable Russian targets such as air defense complexes and radar systems.

“About a month after I joined the force, we found an air defense system and attacked it,” said Kenobi, a Ukrainian soldier. He described the Russian shield as firing like fireworks after being attacked.

Ukraine uses a range of drones from domestic manufacturers as well as Western suppliers, to locate Russian targets and attack them directly.

Servicemen say Ukrainian-made drones are often easier to repair if damaged because they can be quickly returned to the manufacturer.

The commander of Ukraine's 15th brigade, Oleksandr Popov, said drones are playing an important role on the battlefield.

“We calculated that one flight of the Shark UAV would be worth the value of that weapon, because it could destroy high-tech weapons systems worth millions of dollars,” he said, adding that the Shark costs about $50,000.

Shark aerial reconnaissance was invaluable on the battlefield, where artillery played an overwhelmingly important role as each side fired thousands of shells every day.

"Artillery is the king of the battlefield and artillery scouts are the eyes of the king of the battlefield," compared soldier Soliara.

On the other hand, The Economist said, Russia is also stepping up efforts to hunt down enemy UAV operators to cause irreparable damage to Ukraine.

Hummer, commander of Ukraine's 47th mechanized brigade operating along the Zaporizhia front, told The Economist that Russia would fire with all its firepower as soon as it identified enemy targets.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/the-tran-meo-von-chuot-bang-uav-tren-chien-tuyen-nga-ukraine-20231101222408801.htm