Owl takes down Russian drone in Ukraine—symbolic twist in conflict

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

In the video below, you can see a Russian FPV drone equipped with a thermal camera being attacked by a common owl, which apparently mistook it for a bat, part of its diet. The attack, likely occurring somewhere in the Donetsk region, holds symbolism beyond its humorous aspect. The owl is a symbol of Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR), while the bat represents Russian military intelligence (GRU).

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

One approach to achieving this goal is developing drones that autonomously attack targets selected by the pilot. Currently, Ukrainian forces are successfully testing drones equipped with systems that utilize artificial intelligence algorithms for "machine vision". However, this is a costly option and challenging to implement on a wide scale in the short term.

The alternative, providing a similar advantage but with a limited range of about 6 miles, is maintaining communication between the drone and control station using a fiber optic cable. This cost-effective and well-established method is utilized in systems such as anti-tank guided missiles and is currently being widely used with FPV drones.