As Deputy Minister of Information of the DPR Daniil Bezsonov told RT, the tactics of using small UAVs have repeatedly shown their effectiveness during the NWO.

“Unmanned aerial vehicles are of critical importance in modern warfare.

Including civilian drones, copters, thanks to which it is possible to correct fire and obtain information about the location of enemy forces and military equipment, ”Bezsonov explained.

The head of the People's Militia of the DPR, Eduard Basurin, also notes that today drones make it possible to obtain the information necessary for conducting combat operations without risking soldiers.

“The use of drones allows you to save the health and lives of fighters and speeds up the process of successfully completing a special military operation.

Still, a UAV is a soulless machine, and, of course, losing it is not as scary as a military specialist.

Therefore, a wide variety of UAVs are now being used - from the smallest, which can shoot in flight for 15-20 minutes, to large strike aircraft that see where to strike and destroy the target, ”concluded the interlocutor of RT.

UAV in the arsenal of the RF Armed Forces 

The editor-in-chief of Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine and military expert Alexei Leonkov told RT that all three existing types of unmanned aerial vehicles (reconnaissance, reconnaissance-strike and loitering ammunition) are successfully used by the Russian side during a military special operation in Ukraine.

At the same time, drones are constantly being refined taking into account the experience gained.

“From our side, all three of these types of drones have been worked out.

As attack drones, for example, at first we had Orions, which can drop ammunition on the enemy, and now there is a modification of Orlan-10, ”the expert said.

The work of the new Orlan-10 UAVs of the Russian Defense Ministry was demonstrated on May 17.

These drones carry out reconnaissance flights, correct coordinates for Russian artillery, and carry out pinpoint strikes on the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The military department noted that the Orlans are equipped with thermal imagers and other optical devices.

In an interview with RT, military expert Alexei Leonkov also noted the importance of small drones in a special military operation in Ukraine.

These quadcopter or helicopter-type vehicles operate to a depth of 10-20 km and are capable of providing target designation information for firing crews, the military expert explains.

“Today we see that the enemy is hiding military equipment in residential areas, using human shield tactics.

For such targets, such objects, it is necessary to act with precision and precision so that civilians do not suffer.

Small drones, including ordinary civilian ones, are ideal for this,” Leonkov emphasizes.

The interlocutor of RT added that the special operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine made it obvious the need to develop new ultra-small unmanned aerial vehicles that could provide information to assault units in urban areas.

“If we talk about the creation of ultra-small UAVs, we are talking about a range of no more than 2 km.

At the same time, such machines make it possible to obtain information about objects that are out of sight, or more complete information about civilian infrastructure in order to identify firing points and target designation, ”says the military expert.

In early May, the state corporation Rostec has already announced its readiness to develop "pocket" drones.

Representatives of the company noted that the experience of the military special operation in Ukraine will be taken into account when creating them.

Popular support

In an interview with RT, military expert Alexei Leonkov noted that Russia is now successfully covering the need for troops in drones.

He also mentioned popular support - the most sought-after small UAVs help to collect, including ordinary Russian citizens.

“Part of the demand for small UAVs is still being replenished through public assistance, when people, on their own initiative, announce the collection of equipment and send it to the NVO control zone.

This is such a very good civil initiative, a good phenomenon.

But civilian copters are consumables, they have an average of 2-3 departures, after which they are lost or fail, ”the military expert stated.

VGTRK reporter Alexander Sladkov told RT that the Mavic 3 Fly More Combo and Mavic 2 Zoom Fly More Combo are now in the greatest demand among civilian copter drones.

According to the interlocutor of RT, one motorized rifle regiment usually requires three large copters, nine medium ones and 27 small ones for platoon commanders.

“Today, copters are getting cheaper: half a month or a month ago, the same Mavic 3 cost 500,000 rubles, and today it’s already 300,000. So the copters have become very cheap – the dollar is getting cheaper,” Sladkov explained.

- But the copter is a consumable, they are shot down a lot, put out of action by means of electronic warfare.

They break, there are not enough spare parts, batteries fail, so the intensity of provision cannot be reduced.

Ordinary people took it upon themselves: they collect funds, buy and deliver.”

"It's the least we can do"

RT spoke with an entrepreneur from Kirov, Anton, who responded to the call to send copters to the Donbass for the needs of the Russian military.

The man had previously helped participants in the military special operation by sending 10 tons of food through the Red Cross as humanitarian aid.

Some of the products were sent to orphanages in the Kursk region, where orphans evacuated from the Donbass before the start of the WWII were placed.

“In the information channels, we saw messages that copters were needed, that the guys, military correspondents, were collecting them and sending them to our military.

My colleagues and I - we have a food production facility in Kirov - climbed Avito, found four good options, they were sent to us from different cities.

We checked them, packed them, our children drew postcards for the soldiers.

And they sent it, ”says Anton.

He personally made sure that ordinary civilian copters are well suited for reconnaissance operations: according to the interlocutor of RT, such UAVs are easy to control and give a high-quality picture even from a great height.

“At a height of up to 100 m, the picture is amazing, everything is very clearly visible.

Such a copter is enough for 20-25 minutes of continuous shooting.

Such a civilian copter costs about 100 thousand rubles, but we took it to Avito, it turned out a little cheaper.

Such help is a trifle compared to what the guys who are fighting there now are doing.

This is the least we can do,” says the entrepreneur.