Ukraine's battlefield tech revolution: Drones, innovation, and creativity

The war in Ukraine serves as a testing ground for many modern technologies. Amateur solutions, including kamikaze drones, also exist. The Ukrainians have shown that even a simple tool can be "enhanced" with an addition that has not yet been seen on the front lines.

Armoured Frankensteins, turtle tanks, or aircraft cannons mounted on vehicles are just some of the ideas that emerged during the conflict in Ukraine and have been frequently shared on social media, showcasing the more or less successful results of the engineers' work on both the Ukrainian and Russian sides.

Such dynamic changes on the front lines and ever-new ideas are hardly surprising – war forces armies to adapt to changing conditions, so evidence of the continuous development of military technology regularly appears in the media.

As a novelty and a testament to the Ukrainians' extraordinary creativity, we can also consider Karolina Baca-Pogorzelska's latest battle footage shared on platform X, among others. "Ukrainian drone pilots are gods of creativity," reads the post, accompanied by a short film shot from a drone. Just before its camera is a small card with a brief inscription—"your ad could be here."

The appearance of a drone with the suggestion of placing an ad on a card mounted in front of the unmanned vehicle is entirely new – such recordings had not previously come from Ukraine. It is, therefore, difficult to determine how severe the "offer" seen in the footage is – we cannot rule out that the Ukrainians may be trying to attract sponsors who wish to contribute to the development of the drone army in the defender's country.

The war in Ukraine has shown that there can never be too many drones. In the 21st century, drones are one of the essential tools for combating enemy units. They are extraordinarily versatile—depending on the payload used (usually PG-7 grenades from RPG-7 hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers), they can immobilize almost any ground target—from living forces through lightly armoured vehicles to heavy tanks.

Moreover, drones are not only practical but also cheap to produce. Aside from professional tools like Bayraktar drones, which in the TB2 version weigh 650 kg and reach distances of up to 150 km, amateur solutions can be produced virtually anywhere. All it takes is a basic FPV drone and an electrical installation with an explosive charge. Such a construction costs around a few thousand pounds, much less than valuable artillery shells, which Ukraine still lacks.

As Baba Yaga drones have repeatedly proven, amateur kamikaze drones can also carry out mass devastation. These are usually DJI Matrice RTK 300 drones or agricultural drones, which can carry a payload of up to 30 kg over several kilometres, allowing Ukrainians to attack large clusters of enemy units safely.