Owl takes down Russian drone: The unorthodox battlefield of Ukraine

Drones have become an integral part of the modern battlefield in Ukraine. They are a significant source of losses, alongside artillery, even though their effectiveness is estimated at less than 50% due to the widespread use of electronic warfare systems. Another form of defence includes, for instance, smoothbore shotguns, but there are also unique cases.

In the video below, you can see a Russian FPV drone with a thermal camera being attacked by a common owl, which apparently mistook it for a bat that is part of its diet. The owl's attack, likely taking place somewhere in the Donetsk region on a Russian drone, holds a symbolic meaning beyond its humorous side. The owl is a symbol of Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR), and the bat represents Russian military intelligence (GRU).

Of course, there are still instances of drone attacks on jammers if the control signal used is outside their operating range. However, these are becoming rare, and for months both Ukrainians and, to a greater extent, Russians, who face more challenges with their supply of drones, are trying to develop solutions resilient to electronic warfare systems.

One of the avenues towards this goal is the development of drones that attack fully autonomously the target chosen by the operator. Currently, Ukrainians are successfully testing drones equipped with systems that utilise artificial intelligence algorithms for so-called "machine vision". However, this is a costly option and challenging to implement on a large scale in the immediate future.

The second option, providing a similar effect but with a limited range of about 10 kilometres, involves maintaining communication between the drone and the control station with a fibre optic cable. This is an inexpensive and established method used in, for example, anti-tank guided missiles, and is now being widely implemented for use with FPV drones.