Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Heavy drones, which the Russians largely lack, are providing a significant advantage for Ukrainian infantry logistics on the battlefield. Meanwhile, says a Russian source, the Russian infantry face a "reverse evolution" of their equipment under harsh battlefield conditions. ⬇️

2/ Recently reported Ukrainian advances are likely to have been made possible by innovations in drone-supported logistics, with heavy drones now being used to transport large quantities of equipment, supplies, and weapons.

3/ Ukraine's heavy drones such as the Vampire drone bomber (called 'Baba Yaga' by the Russians) are a capability that Russia has consistently failed to replicate. Instead, Russian soldiers seek out downed Ukrainian heavy drones and repair them for reuse.

https://x.com/GrandpaRoy2/status/2064528962177687870

4/ Russian warblogger Alexander Karchenko writes:

"The enemy is employing new infantry group operations. Single vehicle and column approaches are still common, and sometimes these operations are successful."

5/ "However, thanks to dense green cover, enemy personnel are increasingly traveling lightly and infiltrating positions in small groups as stealthily as possible.

6/ "Thanks to the Ukrainian Armed Forces' air logistics capabilities, assault operations have naturally evolved. Personnel are passing through the kill zone lightly. Meanwhile, they are resupplied by air. Let me explain.

7/ "This isn't a shabby stronghold where food and medical supplies are dropped. This is a fresh assault group, which is being airdropped with protective equipment, ammo, drones, heavy weapons, Starlinks, and so on.

8/ "Having received everything they need, the soldiers make a breakthrough. And the breakthrough is effective, since they didn't have to lug all their equipment tens of kilometres.

9/ "Logistics has undergone a natural transformation. It hasn’t disappeared—it has taken to the skies. Isolated operations have evolved into a supply system. The enemy’s dominance in the sky has not only complicated our logistics,…

10/ …but now our assault teams may unexpectedly encounter a large-caliber machine gun or a heavily armoured group with anti-tank weapons in places where previously there were only exhausted fighters with assault rifles and minimal ammunition.

11/ "Can we repeat this tactic? To do so, we need to answer the question of how many operational heavy drones or ground robots we actually have. Numerous reports speak of thousands of soulless drones. In reality… well, let’s hope for the best."

12/ 'Russian Engineer' comments that "the heavy multi-rotor aircraft (Baba Yaga) is being reborn into a different entity – an air bridge."

13/ "It's no secret that Baba Yaga's former effectiveness is already declining; they are suffering ever-increasing losses due to the growing number of our interceptors, and in their current form, they are losing relevance.

14/ "However, using them as logistics platforms completely thwarts attempts to isolate the front lines, as shooting them down over enemy territory is significantly more difficult than over our own.

15/ "Moreover, our interceptor numbers remain insufficient, and our awareness is far from ideal.

16/ "Therefore, the development of heavy copters for direct combat operations is a bit overdue, but their development as transport platforms is both possible and necessary.

And don't forget about their potential use as a base for [signal] repeaters.

17/ "The development of heavy combat drones is already moving toward the use of guided munitions. This makes it possible to dramatically increase the probability of a hit at a moderate cost, while raising the drone’s operational altitude, which reduces its vulnerability.

18/ "Unfortunately, the enemy is already testing similar designs. So this area is an obvious and pressing challenge for our developers.

19/ 'BCh 3' observes that even as the Ukrainians are becoming better equipped due to their drone-powered air bridge, the Russian infantry is undergoing a "reverse evolution" and is becoming even less well equipped due to the harsh conditions on the battlefield:

20/ "At the line of contact and nearby, the reverse evolution continues. Goggles, once a must-have for every tactical warrior, have proven ineffective, hindering combat, and are now reserved for motorcyclists and drivers without a windshield or roof.

21/ "Tactical helmets with earpieces are practically unheard of: the temples are exposed. Earpieces themselves, too, are a hindrance; they’re now used only by artillery crews and a few others.

22/ "Hydration packs are easily torn and punctured in dense plantations; calimator packs are almost never used because they easily get knocked off in rubble and crevices.

23/ "Michelangelo said, "I take a stone and cut away all that is unnecessary." So too, war mercilessly cuts away everything unnecessary and precious.

24/ "The stronger and more rugged your footwear, the more severe the injury you'll suffer if you step on a "petal" [anti-personnel mine]. A sneaker simply shatters, while combat boots produce a kind of targeted blow.

25/ "Powerful SUVs are a thing of the past; you're not going on a safari. Soviet-era vehicles with sawed-off roofs rule the roost; a plank in the back holds a turret with a machine gun, or even better, a twin-barreled trio.

26/ "Soldiers rely only on their eyes and ears, a covered back, and running, running, with harnesses on their belts, because they often have to shed their body armour to squeeze through some crevice in the rubble or an abandoned, crumbling bunker in a forested area.

27/ "But progress glimmers, as long as it glimmers in the right places. For example, one of the main advantages of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is heavy drones like the Yaga, controlled by a Starlink, which is indifferent to any electronic warfare.

28/ "And this not only provides strike power, it also provides supplies – 6 kilograms of food and water for the soldiers at a time. We drop supplies ourselves via FPV drones. The difference is huge.

29/ "But recently, our Veles drones have started appearing—similar drones, but with fiber optics. Wherever they go, the enemy immediately becomes sad." /end

Sources:
🔹 t.me/bayraktar1070/…
🔹 t.me/rusengineer/10…
🔹 t.me/bch3by/3350