{"id":44597,"date":"2025-06-02T20:49:18","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T15:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=44597"},"modified":"2025-06-02T20:49:31","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T15:19:31","slug":"ukraine-drone-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/02-06-2025\/ukraine-drone-attack","title":{"rendered":"Drone Warfare: Ukraine Drone Attack on Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Defence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Under its <strong>\u2018Operation Spider\u2019s Web\u2019<\/strong>, Ukraine launched <strong>first-person view (FPV) drone attacks on five airbases across Russia.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>First-person View Drones<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>FPV or first-person view drones <\/strong>are smaller in size and have cameras built in on the front, which<strong> sends live video to the operator.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This enables<strong> precise flying and manoeuvrability <\/strong>by the operator from a remote location, almost like an aircraft.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>These drones used <strong>Russian mobile-telephone networks <\/strong>to relay their footage back to Ukraine.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Recent Use of Drones\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In the early years of the 21st century, most drone strikes were carried out by the <strong>US military <\/strong>in countries such as <strong>Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, and Libya, <\/strong>using air-to-surface missiles against ground targets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Drone warfare has since been adopted by countries like<strong> Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Iran,<\/strong> as well as by<strong> non-state actors <\/strong>such as the Houthis.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>India<\/strong>, too, has employed drones in recent operations, including the <strong>Operation Sindoor and retaliatory strikes against Pakistan.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is Drone Warfare?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Drone warfare refers to a <strong>mode of warfare employing unmanned or remotely controlled devices.\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Such drones have the capability of<strong> staying in the air, on land, at sea level, or underwater.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The drones may be operated by <strong>manual control,<\/strong> and others may<strong> utilise auto-pilot systems on their missions.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Remotely Piloted Aircraft System: <\/strong>It refers to a set of components that include <strong>the drone, its ground-based control system.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The US, UK, Israel, China, India, Russia, and Turkey, have produced combat drones, or UCAVs (Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>These are employed in<strong> targeted attacks,<\/strong> frequently in locations difficult to access by conventional forces.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>AI: The second stage of drone application <\/strong>is <strong>artificial intelligence<\/strong>. AI drones can navigate on their own, detect targets, and even operate in &#8220;swarm&#8221; groups.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Evolution of UAVs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>In the 1960s, British Commonwealth artillery regiments<\/strong> started developing drones for target identification and extending their range.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The past two decades saw the US set the trend world-wide with using drones for its<strong> counterterrorism action<\/strong> in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and Yemen with precision attacks minimising personnel risks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>It was the Ukraine war that saw a turning point.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Russian and Ukrainian forces<\/strong> both used small drones on a massive scale for real-time intelligence and direct attacks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>By 2023,<\/strong> small drones had evolved to accommodate multiple payloads &#8211; from infrared detectors to electronic warfare equipment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Significance of Use of Drones in Warfare<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Targeted Strikes: <\/strong>Drones allow militaries to carry out highly targeted attacks, minimizing collateral damage.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lower Risk to Personnel:<\/strong> Since drones are unmanned, they eliminate the risk to pilots and reduce the need for boots on the ground.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cost-Effectiveness:<\/strong> Drones are cheaper to manufacture, operate, and maintain compared to manned aircraft.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Real-Time Surveillance and Intelligence: <\/strong>Drones provide continuous, real-time imagery and intelligence gathering, essential for both offensive and defensive operations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strategic Advantage in Asymmetric Warfare: <\/strong>Drones are especially useful against non-state actors and terrorist groups, who may not be reachable by conventional military means.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The fact that Ukraine was able to destroy such a large number of Russia\u2019s aircraft deep inside Russia territory demonstrates the effectiveness of such deep-strike programmes and taking the possibilities of drone warfare to another level.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As technology advances, drones will increasingly be utilised for military and civilian missions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rise of autonomous and AI-driven systems could further revolutionize military doctrine.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/operation-spider-web-russia-ukraine-drone-warfare-battlefield-trojan-horse-10043072\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>IE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Under its \u2018Operation Spider\u2019s Web\u2019, Ukraine launched first-person view (FPV) drone attacks on five airbases across Russia.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>First-person View Drones<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">FPV or first-person view drones are smaller in size and have cameras built in on the front, which sends live video to the operator.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">This enables precise flying and manoeuvrability by the operator from a remote location, almost like an aircraft.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">These drones used Russian mobile-telephone networks to relay their footage back to Ukraine.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/02-06-2025\/ukraine-drone-attack\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44597"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44610,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44597\/revisions\/44610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}