In Russia, they continue to complain about superior Ukrainian drone and electronic warfare (EW) capabilities on the battlefield, continuing to highlight the rapid and constant tactical and technological innovation cycles that are shaping the battlespace in Ukraine, the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Wednesday.

“Ukrainian troops have a large numerical advantage in first person view (FPV) drones and FPV drone operators … Ukrainian assault groups have a 3-4:1 FPV drone advantage over Russian assault units, while Ukrainian mechanized groups have a 6-10:1 FPV drone advantage over comparable Russian units … Russian forces, by contrast, lack the centralized and organized drone-unit system and adequate EW and electronic reconnaissance (ER) capabilities to counter Ukrainian drones,” the review says with reference to Russian sources.

It is also reported that Ukraine also has specialized and centralized drone units within existing Ukrainian ground units, which allows Ukrainian forces to better integrate reconnaissance and attack drone capabilities into basic tactical maneuvers. In particular, such units carry out massive strikes on unprotected Russian armored vehicles and destroy unprotected Russian armored vehicles in Avdiyivka direction, which hinders the prospects of a Russian offensive in the area, analysts say.

In addition, in the Russian Federation, the supply of FPV drones and the necessary electronic warfare systems is carried out on a volunteer basis, and there is no centralized supply mechanism from the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

“As Ukrainian forces adapt and better integrate new technologies into their force, Russian forces will likely feel pressured to do the same in order to retain technological and tactical parity on the battlefield. This offense-defense and capability scaling race is central to the development of combat means in a contemporary war,” the ISW says.