Ukraine's drone pilots are overhauling which Russian targets they think matter most, and tanks have fallen far from the top
Where a tank kill could earn 40 points, now it only earns up to eight per vehicle.
Russian drone pilots are now the highest priority target for the bonus program.
Russian tanks and rocket launchers used to be the most highly valued target for Ukrainian drones — but no longer.
Ukraine's drone forces recently revamped a points system that rewards pilots for battlefield kills, and it's putting the greatest emphasis on targeting Russian drone operators.
The system, created in August, previously placed the highest value on destroying artillery systems and tanks.
Ukrainian units now earn 15 points for wounding a drone pilot and 25 for eliminating them, Maj. Robert "Magyar" Brovdi, the new commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, said in a video address on June 12.
Tank kills, which previously earned 40 points, now only bring in eight points for Ukrainian units. Destroying multiple launch rocket systems, which could have earned up to 50 points, now only net Ukrainian pilots as many as 10 points.
"We need to stimulate pilots to orient themselves toward destroying personnel," Brovdi, who also founded the Ukrainian marine corps UAV strike unit Magyar Birds, said in the video.
Brovdi said the change came from concerns that Ukrainian drone units weren't clearing Russian infantry as quickly as needed, allowing Moscow to accumulate a surplus of troops on the frontline.
Now, Ukraine's system doubles the points a drone pilot can score from eliminating a Russian soldier, from six points to 12 per kill.
Brovdi said the new system shouldn't discourage drone operators from carrying out hits on Russian equipment.
"I don't know a single pilot who, upon detecting a moving mechanized armored column of the enemy — tanks, BTRs —wouldn't strike them just because no bonus is paid. That's absurd," he said.
Among Russian forces, the shift is being noticed by military bloggers who write about the frontline.
"Bad news from the front," wrote Alexander Kharchenko, a state media war journalist who runs the Telegram channel Witnesses Bayraktar, warning of a "hunt for our drone operators."
"From my own experience, I can say that the pressure on logistics has now been reduced, and all efforts have been redirected toward identifying and destroying our UAV crews," Kharchenko wrote in a Saturday post.
"We need to enhance camouflage and change positions more frequently," he added.
Another Russian military blogger, Laboratory of the SVO, advised Russian drone squads to spread out, urging drone pilots and operators to sit separately.
"There is no need to wander all over the place," they wrote on Monday. "You are a real scout. Less movement means longer life."
Ukraine initially created its rewards system to incentivize drone units to target enemy positions more efficiently. The points could be used to purchase drone equipment from the state — a boon for many units relying on both official and crowdsourced resources to continue fighting.
To claim their points, units have to film and record their hits.
In April, Ukraine launched an "Amazon"-style website that officials said offers over 1,000 types of equipment in exchange for points, including batteries, guns, and satellite communications devices.
Brovdi said that with the new rankings, eliminating a typical squad of three drone pilots could earn a Ukrainian unit enough points to get 57 new first-person view drones. A typical 10-inch FPV drone can cost about $500.
By Brovdi's account, 507 Ukrainian units report in monthly with their points tallies.
In his video, the commander also said he plans to regularly invite leaders of the top 12 units on the points leaderboard, alongside representatives from other randomly selected units, to provide advice in a focus group.
"That way, we'll model any situation and optimize the bonus model, and propose it to those in charge," he said.
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