Thread by @Teoyaomiquu

Recently, some Pentagon officials suggested that Ukraine should rely less on drones. Was it the WP writer's misinterpretation or an actual statement by the officials? I want to address why this is wrong in the following thread. Some never-before-seen footage is below as well⬇️

Let's start with drone capabilities.
The cheap commercial drone can carry a very high-quality camera.

High-end military-grade drones have even better capabilities.

Here is a video from a cheap Mavic 3 Drone demonstrating surveillance capabilities.

Here is one drone providing intelligence to another havier bomber drone with poor optics.

In addition to standard daylight visual capabilities now, 5,000 USD drones have high-quality thermal vision cameras capable of detecting enemy formations and uncovering their hidden positions.

Here is the video of the Mavic 2 AE (2800USD) detecting russian foxholes.

Here is a mine-spotting capability that drones provide.

You can spot helicopters and provide your AD mobility units the intelligence to react.

But one of the critical features of drones is the pilot's safety.

Drone operators use remote antennas to operate them while relatively safely sitting in the bunkers.

Drones can be used for intelligence gathering both in defensive and offensive operations. Here is an example of drone usage during a defensive operation in the easter Ukraine. The enemy unit was spotted and destroyed before it could reach our positions.

Ukraine has built networks of command and control points that unite multiple drone video streams into operational centers that enable quick decision-making.

I've spoken to the recon units from the 92nd and 46th brigades and asked what ground recon can provide that drones can't.

They could only come up with some of the engineering reconnaissance.

Considering all the capabilities of drone operations, if there is anything that Ukraine should do, it should increase its reliance on drones. And develop new recon capabilities, such as drone-based radars tech based on drones. Drone tethering and ground drone technology.

Reconnaissance range provided by consumer drones in good climates. Conservative estimate up to 10km.