In the units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, regular structures have been created that specialize in the use of drones, which was reported to the head of the Russian Ministry of Defense Sergei Shoigu during his inspection of the “Center” group of troops in the special operation zone.

“The commander of the group, Andrei Mordvichev, reported that in accordance with the instructions of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, regular units for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles have been created in formations and units, which are armed with both reconnaissance and attack drones,” the Ministry of Defense said in a press release.

In turn, Sergei Shoigu noted the role of drones in the course of the military air defense and stated that in the near future it is planned to supply the troops with UAVs, the control of which uses artificial intelligence technologies to increase their efficiency.

“We've come to this.

This is becoming quite a serious weapon,” Shoigu stated.

  • Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspects the Center group of troops in the special operation zone

  • RIA News

  • © Press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

In a conversation with the Minister of Defense, Andrei Mordvichev emphasized that the effectiveness of the use of UAVs by the Russian military in the special operation zone continues to increase.

“In the last two weeks of February alone, attack drones in the Avdeevsky direction destroyed more than 700 different enemy targets, including armored vehicles, artillery systems, radar equipment, as well as enemy personnel,” the Ministry of Defense noted.

They added that during the liberation of Avdeevka, the Orlan-30 reconnaissance drone complex proved itself very well.

Key Need

The importance and growing role of unmanned aircraft for the Russian Armed Forces has been repeatedly emphasized at the highest level.

At the end of 2022, Vladimir Putin, at a meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Defense, demanded that all combat units be provided with UAVs.

“The experience of a special military operation has shown that the use of drones has become almost universal and such an arsenal of weapons should be available in combat squads, platoons, companies, and battalions.

The target must be detected as quickly as possible, and information must be transmitted to strike in real time.

Unmanned vehicles must be interconnected, integrated into a single intelligence network, and have secure communication channels with headquarters and commanders,” the Russian leader emphasized.

  • A serviceman of the Russian Armed Forces is undergoing training as a UAV operator in the area of ​​the military air defense

  • RIA News

  • © Evgeniy Biyatov

At the same time, the president noted that Russia has all the necessary capabilities to integrate artificial intelligence technologies into drones.

“We have good experience in developing unique underwater unmanned vehicles, and I know that the industry has all the capabilities to create a wide range of air and ground unmanned vehicles with the best and highest tactical and technical characteristics, including elements of artificial intelligence,” the president said.

On February 20, 2024, Sergei Shoigu in an interview with TASS noted that the production of drones in Russia now amounts to thousands per day.

“A lot of new weapons have appeared.

Look at what a giant step has been made in unmanned aviation over the past eight to nine months: today our use of FPV drones is in the hundreds per day, and production in the thousands per day.

This is a job that requires continuous and continuous improvement.

Next is artificial intelligence, (coming. - 

RT

) round-the-clock work, and this says a lot,” said the head of the Ministry of Defense.

In turn, Deputy Head of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, discussing the special operation with representatives of the Russian media, said that the country’s military-industrial complex had achieved parity in drones in the Northern Military District zone in a year and a half.

“A separate topic is unmanned aerial vehicles.

In our country, before the start of the SVO, this component was indeed not well developed.

But, to the credit of the defense-industrial complex, we must admit that over the last year and a half this gap has been bridged,” the deputy head of the Security Council emphasized.

Medvedev added that Russian drones are now operating in all segments: from large vehicles to loitering munitions - “one-off drones that perform a separate task, destroy an object and disappear.”

He emphasized that the production of various types of UAVs has been put on stream.

“Therefore, I can only say that our defense industry has passed the test of a special military operation, and I can thank everyone who works in this complex.

These are actually enthusiasts of their work, real patriots,” Medvedev summed up.

From Syria to Ukraine

The creation of full-time units in the Russian Armed Forces for the use of drones reflects trends in the increasing role of UAVs in military operations, Denis Fedutinov, editor-in-chief of the specialized publication Unmanned Aviation, noted in a conversation with RT.

“We have been observing this for two years of the special operation in Ukraine, but this process began earlier - even during the participation of Russian forces in the operation in Syria.

The number of UAVs is constantly increasing, and their range in military service is growing.

New specialties of drone operators are emerging in the military.

Of course, this requires organizational and staffing changes, including the creation of such new units,” the expert explained.

Decisions on the integration of UAVs into the troops through the creation of new units are made based on the experience of our military in the Northern Military District, Fedutinov added.

“There is a careful study of ideas that come from places where drones are most actively used.

What is the most convenient way to organize work, whether to include specialists working with drones in some other departments or create separate departments,” the RT interlocutor emphasized.

In his opinion, in the near future the role of unmanned aircraft will continue to grow: both UAVs and their operators will be delegated an increasing number of tasks.

“This is not only reconnaissance, but also application in strike missions.

Also in the future, logistics for the delivery of goods, including to the front line, will appear.

Therefore, the share of tasks that are solved by drones will indeed increase,” the expert said.

The effectiveness of UAVs will increase as artificial intelligence technologies are introduced into various aspects of their work, Fedutinov believes.

“Such technologies are already being introduced into the practice of using drones.

This is automatic target recognition and navigation tasks, which are resolved not only through adjustments based on satellite data, but also through algorithmic analysis of the surface.

There is significant potential for development here,” the specialist noted.

UAVs are part of a comprehensive means of suppressing the enemy, and as artificial intelligence technologies and system algorithms are integrated into UAV systems, they will receive more and more new capabilities, retired colonel Viktor Litovkin said in a conversation with RT.

“For example, when launching a swarm of drones, artificial intelligence in the control system can distribute the UAVs to different targets.

Such technologies are already used in some Russian weapons systems, and their use in unmanned aircraft is only a matter of time.

With the help of algorithms, some UAVs will monitor the situation on the battlefield, others will carry out strikes and transmit the coordinates of targets to artillery guns.

Artificial intelligence will help with this and make unmanned aircraft even more effective,” concluded RT’s interlocutor.