Ukrainian innovation: 3D‑printed drones reshape battlefield tactics

Ukrainians surprise with their level of innovation in the drone war. They are printing drones and optoelectronic heads. Are they slowly becoming a key element of the war?

The appearance of military and commercial drones over the battlefield has significantly changed the situation for soldiers on the front line. Primarily, they have increased battlefield awareness. Machines "hovering" almost all the time overhead are a dangerous weapon against which it is difficult to find countermeasures.

- Drones and military unmanned platforms allow for increased situational awareness and strike capabilities of individual soldiers on the front line for virtually pennies - observes Jakub Link-Lenczowski, editor of the Military Magazine MILMAG.

This concerns primarily the protection of individual soldiers and combat vehicles. People are utterly defenseless in the event of an attack by a small drone with a hanging grenade. Combat vehicles do not have an adequate amount of effective jamming devices. More giant formations are protected by directional emitters, which work very well.

Intercepting small drones on both sides of the front, often civilian, is not a significant problem. They cut off the operator's signal, and they can be forced to land and be taken over after being intercepted.

This is how, for example, the Lithuanian EDM4S SkyWiper, called "orc killers" by Ukrainians, works. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have over a hundred systems of this type. It sends an electromagnetic pulse ranging from 2 to 3 miles. The simpler the system neutralized, the greater the range. However, eliminating larger, specialized aircraft is not so simple.

Unmanned aerial vehicles of the Polish FlyEye class, or to a lesser extent, the Russian Orlan-10, are practically indestructible by the self-propelled medium-range missile systems 9K33 Osa and 2K12 Kub.

In the fall, an attempt to shoot down the Polish FlyEye resulted in the firing of four missiles that did not hit the drone and, ultimately, operator-guided artillery that destroyed the launcher. Simply put, anti-aircraft missile guidance systems do not detect such small targets.

Meanwhile, smaller systems, like the Pantsir-S1, often identify aircraft of this size as birds and do not attack in automatic and semi-automatic modes. These drones are best shot down by anti-aircraft crews in manual mode, where good eyesight and soldier skills count.

- However, it must be remembered that weapon systems are still evolving. I assume that operating off-the-shelf civilian drones will become increasingly difficult. The result of the Darwinian process of evolution will be more effective portable systems for detecting and neutralizing drones - explains Link-Lenczowski.

Since the beginning of the war, both sides have used improvised weapons. During the heaviest periods of defensive combat, anyone with a drone helped the Ukrainian army conduct reconnaissance and support artillerymen. Thanks to civilian drones, stopping the advance near Brovary was possible. With their help, the fire of howitzers was directed, breaking up the armored column heading towards Kyiv.

Over time, constructions evolved. Drones began to be equipped with launchers under which hand grenades and mortar rounds could be hung. The "Army of Drones" program changed a lot, creating many new drones and thoroughly modernizing others.

Recently, Ukrainians used the AQ-400 Scythe to attack refineries. It can carry a load of 93 pounds over a distance of 435-500 miles. The drone is partially 3D printed, and part of the airframe is made of plywood. According to manufacturers from Kyiv’s Terminal Autonomy, their factory alone can produce up to a thousand units per month.

The problem is the small carrying capacity of such structures. Therefore, Ukrainians converted ultralight Aeroprakt A-22 aircraft into strike drones.

Similarly, during World War II, Americans in the Army’s Aphrodite Project and the Navy’s Anvil Project converted B-17 and B-24 bombers, which were used to destroy highly protected targets like weapon bunkers.

Ukrainians mounted a flight control system based on GPS and/or INS on the A-22. In areas where the satellite signal is jammed, an operator can take over control remotely using a controller. He can observe the area thanks to an optoelectronic head printed on a 3D printer, probably equipped with a daylight observation camera and two infrared observation cameras.

The drone can carry an OFAB-100-120 bomb under the fuselage, which contains 93 pounds of explosives or explosive charges of up to 220 pounds inside the pilot cabin. This allows a significant load to be transported over a long distance, creating an improvised cruise missile that can slip between anti-aircraft systems at low speed.

Equipping the A-22 with a system that can be steered remotely without dependence on satellite navigation systems is also a way to bypass jamming measures. This allows for more precise targeting in Russia.

Military drones will likely develop, using encrypted radios for communication and resisting jamming. These platforms will likely become independent of satellite navigation, which is also susceptible to jamming, forecasts Link-Lenczowski.

He adds that drones are the only means on the battlefield and operate in an integrated system.

- However, the terrain is still captured by mechanized and armored units supported by artillery. Meanwhile, the latter has significantly increased its capabilities thanks to drone platforms - he concludes.