Thread by @sambendett

1/ THREAD: Now that the Rus MOD has signaled that the Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) are established, here is a take from Rus mil commentators on what USF can mean for the larger force - main points translated in this thread below. t.me/gvZapad/17121 x.com/sambendett/sta…

2/ "People: Without developing human potential, nothing will work. We need to change approaches, constantly improve UxS training, and, once again, learn to value the personnel in whom we've invested so much time and money. The quality of work improves with experience."

3/ "Mistakes are inevitable, and people must be unafraid to make them if progress is to be high-quality. We can't send drone operators to assault units, as some commanders do. Otherwise, the whole process becomes meaningless. Plugging (tactical) holes on the battlefield is a consequence of many problems."

4/ "And the existence of such problems is a consequence of the careless actions of the command. There's a glimmer of hope that the USF will become a kind of "shield" for all successful drone operators, preventing them from repeating the fate of those sent into meaningless assaults."

5/ "Status and military occupational specialty: This is the root of the problem with "plugging holes." What is a UAV operator according to their documents? A signalman? A scout? An artilleryman? Often, just a "gunner."

6/ "Until this position has its own, separate military specialty, this soldier is an ordinary infantryman who can be sent anywhere for the (typical) staff commander. There's a glimmer of hope that the USF won't just create "troops," but will legitimize the UAV operator profession. With its own school, its own career ladder, and, most importantly, specialist status."

7/ "Finances: In combat, it's very easy to lose a drone, and if you have a strict limit on the number of drones used, your capabilities are limited. It's no secret that there's a shortage of UAVs practically everywhere right now. Especially nighttime drones. Especially our own Baba Yaga-like drones."

8/ "The only exception is Rubicon Center, which DefMin Belousov personally oversees. There's a glimmer of hope that the USF is being created, in part, to solve the supply problem so that each unit can eventually call itself at least a mini-Rubicon."

9/ "Payments: This is a problem that we’ve been wailing about for years. The loud headlines about millions of rubles (in payment) for (destroyed) Abrams remain just empty words. But in reality, does anyone know of any units where this kind of bonus system is standard practice?"

10/ "On the contrary, you need to push for not just bonuses, but stable salaries and injury pay. I personally know guys who would be millionaires if they were given all these bonuses. Instead, they're buying spare parts with their last pennies and asking volunteers to help them buy a car. There's a glimmer of hope that the USF will become the body that helps achieve justice in this matter."

11/ "R&D: Drones aren't just about flying contraptions with grenades. They're an entire infrastructure. Okay, so the USF will supply the unit with UAVs. But what about assembling the drone? Equipping it with a charge? Re-soldering it?"

12/ "Driving it to the target? Retrics? Batteries? Generators? Starlink terminals for C2? Masknets, tablets, remote controls? There are no proper technical regulations, no unified assembly and testing database. Well, you get the idea. The drone is just the tip of the iceberg. There's a glimmer of hope that the USF will also be able to address its core."

13/ "The USF shouldn't turn into another sluggish research institute that squanders budgets and issues technical specifications out of touch with reality. We need immediate feedback. The Ukrainians deployed new electronic warfare—they learned about it, figured it out, found a solution..."

14/ "...and boom, they bypassed it, the new firmware is already loaded and ready for combat, and everyone has access to it. There's a glimmer of hope that thanks to the USF, we'll be able to dispense with thousands of bureaucratic papers and reports."