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Reuters
7 days ago
- General
- Reuters
Zelenskiy announces military shakeup, commander who resigned given new assignment
June 3 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced a shakeup in Ukraine's military on Tuesday, including the appointment to a new post of a commander who tendered his resignation over a deadly Russian attack. Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi, who offered to quit as commander of Ukraine's land forces over an attack on a training area, would now serve as the new commander of joint forces. Zelenskiy said another commander, whom he did not identify, would take charge of land forces. He said the appointment had also been approved of Oleh Apostol as commander of paratroops and Robert Brovdi as commander of unmanned systems.
Forbes
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Ukraine's Interceptors Bring Down Biggest Russian Drone Yet
Ukraine's Birds of Magyar unit published video of one of their FPV interceptors hitting a Russian Forpost-R drone, the largest yet to fall victim in this way. It is a notable success -- the interceptor cost around $2k, the half-ton Forpost-R is more like $7 million – but it is also a symptom of another subtle shift in drone warfare. Forpost ('Outpost') is Russian-made, but is a licensed copy of the Israeli IAI Searcher II drone which first flew in 1998. The Russian version entered service in 2019, three years after Israel ceased to supply parts. The Russians reportedly redesigned the Forpost to use only locally made components. It is still an oddity that Russian employs the Israeli-descended Forpost next to its Iranian Shaheds, highlighting weaknesses in Russia's own drone design capability. Forpost-R drone, based on the IAI Searcher II Russian MoD Forpost is one of the largest Russian drones, with a wingspan of over 34 feet and a takeoff weight of more than 1100 pounds. It is designed to carry out a similar role to the Predator, long-endurance reconnaissance missions, with a flight endurance of more than 18 hours and a ceiling of 18,500 feet. It is a propeller driven, and normally cruises at 70-90 mph with a maximum speed of 120 mph. The Russians have adapted Forpost-R for attack missions, carrying a pair of KAB-20 laser-guided bombs. These weigh 45 pounds each and can carry out precision attacks on armored vehicles, bunkers and other targets. Forpost has rarely been seen in the Ukraine conflict, featuring mainly in Russian propaganda videos. One crashed in Belgorod in January 2023 and the Ukrainian air force downed one in April 2024 and another in July. But over the Easter weekend, Russian operators decided to carry out a strike using a Forpost armed with two bombs, in spite of the supposed ceasefire. And it ran into some determined defenders. Birds of Magyar, commanded by the celebrated Robert Brovdi (callsign 'Magyar') is one of Ukraine's most successful drone units. Brovdi originally created the unit as a volunteer drone platoon in 2022, since then a long string of successes has seen it grow to a company, a battalion, and now a full regiment. Much of this is due to the rapid assimilation and adoption of new drone technologies – including aerial interceptors to take down Russian drones. Brovdi posted the video on his Telegram channel, showing an FPV intercepting the Forpost-R, and with typical strong language. He says the FPV was piloted personally by the commander of the Birds of Magyar's interceptor unit, and the intercept took place at 13,000 feet. The video shows the FPV approaching the tail for Forpost before it cuts out, presumably when the FPV's warhead was triggered. Brovdi says the Forpost was damaged and they tracked it by radar oi where it came down over Russian territory; he regrets not being able to pick up an unusual trophy from the encounter. Russian Telegram channels quoted by Samuel Bendett naturally enough tell a different story. Claiming that the Forpost was not seriously damaged and that it landed safely. Naturally no evidence is presented for this. While the interception is a notable achievement in its own right, it does also have wider significance. It is not news that Ukrainian interceptors can operate above 10,000 feet, though this may be the highest strike officially recorded. Nor is it news that the interceptor teams are coordinated with the overall air defense systems, in particular the Sky Hunter radar. But the increasing speed, range and effectiveness of interceptors, coupled with the increased coverage and accuracy of detection systems, will make it increasingly difficult for anything to survive in unfriendly airspace. This comes at the same time as reports of yet another U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone being downed by Houthi forces. Like the Forpost/Searcher, the Reaper is a relatively low-speed, low-agility aircraft without stealth or other defensive aides, which has little chance of surviving in air-to-air combat of any sort. This is apparently the sixth Reaper to be lost since March. Reapers cost around $30 million each. As of 2024 the USAF had a total of 224, to the current attrition rate is an unsustainable 3% a month. The Houthis rely on surface-to-air missiles supplied by Iran, but any future opponent is likely to have access to low-cost interceptors like those seen in Ukraine. It is notable that Ukraine's own fleet of Bayraktar drones, large craft somewhere between Forpost and Reaper, have stayed very much in the background. After early successes in the strike role, they were pulled back as Russian tactical air defence improved. Birds of Magyar also operate small reconnaissance drones, and report losing 228 of them in April. Each drone survives an average of 45 flights and costs a few thousand dollars, making them 'attritable' assets: losses are expected and there is a steady flow of replacements. Going forward, larger drones may need to be better protected, which will add to the cost, or made more affordable -- we have already looked at how the U.S. could replace Reapers with low cost alternatives – or whether they will become motherships, remaining at long range and launching small attritable or expendable drones into enemy territory.
Forbes
16-04-2025
- Forbes
Hidden Killers: Inside Ukraine's Combat Drone Statistics
Birds of Magyar is one of Ukraine's most lethal drone units, having grown rapidly from a platoon in 2022 to a full regiment at the end of 2024. Robert Brovdi, the unit's larger-than-life commander, is well aware of the power of online media and the unit publishes videos with kill statistics every month on its YouTube channel. In March they hit over 5,000 targets. Beyond the dizzying display of exploding Russian tanks, the numbers from Birds of Magyar give fascinating insight into how the drone war is conducted and what is really doing the damage. As previously noted, kill claims from drone units are carefully audited because they contribute to a points system which determines how many drones are shipped to the unit the next month, and they are considered generally accurate. In particular, the videos reveal some surprising truths about the drones being used and the breakdown between the photogenic FPVs and the rarely-seen night bombers. Known as 'Baba Yaga'' to the Russians, these heavy bombers carry bigger weapons, but their attacks are less visually impressive. Usually there is nothing to see but a burst of white and black in a thermal imager, with no indication of what the target was or how badly it was damaged (see 0:56-0;59 in video below). Birds of Magyar state that this month they expended a total of 7,874 FPV drones, accounting for 67% of the attacks. They also state that they flew 3,582 heavy bomber sorties, which would make up another 31%. These would generally drop much heavier weapons than carried by the FPVs. The remaining 2% of attack sorties were likely carried out by Mavic-type quadcopters on bomb-dropping missions. What we do not know is the breakdown of how many targets were hit by bombers compared to FPVs. OSINT analyst Andrew Perpetua, who reviews every single drone kills video coming out of Ukraine, believes that the night bombers success rate is likely much underrated. He also that their effects are indistinguishable from artillery, and they may account for the large number of destroyed vehicles which were hit by unknown weapons, Of the 5,334 targets hit 1,848 or 35% are recorded as destroyed, from 11, 601 sorties. On the crudest count then takes an average 2.2 drone sorties to damage a target and 7.1 to destroy it. However, this number is questionable value because a target can be anything from a single Russian soldier to a bunker complex. While drone videos going viral on social media show tanks or other high-profile targets getting destroyed, these are a statistical minority of all strikes. Summarizing the Magyar statistics, we find that, in March, 274 armored vehicles were hit, plus 69 artillery pieces, as well as along with 569 soft vehicles including trucks and vans. There were also 149 motorcycles. Less glamorous targets also feature. These include 174 antennas, radar and uncrewed camera systems, which can be disabled with high-precision strikes to deny communications and intelligence. But by far the largest number of strikes when on the lowest-value targets: individual Russian soldiers, and structures – buildings, trenches and bunkers. 1,701 individual Russian foot soldiers were hit, of whom 1,002 are recorded as killed (59%). These are in addition to the casualties in the thousand or so vehicle hits listed above. The full tall for March 2025, via Google translate Birds of Magyar 2,170 hits were scored on structures, of which just 125 are recorded as destroyed (6%). A small drone may kill the occupants of a building, trench or bunker without significantly damaging the structure. A thermobaric warhead, or multiple bombs from a Baba Yaga, may result in complete destruction, but this is rare as the numbers show. One thing this definitely shows is that there are more than enough drones to target every single Russian, and FPVs are frequently used to hunt down individuals on foot. Another is that armored vehicles are rarely seen. The front line is composed of Russian soldiers in trenches, so these are the main targets, followed by the trucks that supply them. What we cannot tell is how the credit can be divided between bombers and FPVs which have overlapping target sets. The big multicopters are mainly seen hitting fixed targets like defensive positions or, occasionally, parked vehicles, but occasionally chase moving targets. FPVs are effective against light mobile targets like trucks and foot soldiers. And both types can destroy armored vehicles. Hitting a building is much easier than hitting a Russian soldier running and hiding in woodland, but a hit is far more likely to kill a person on foot. The bombers operate mainly but not exclusively at night. FPVs operate mainly in the daytime, though Birds of Magyar does also have a significant number of FPVs with thermal imagers for night operations. An additional complication is that Birds of Magyar's bombers also carry out drone minelaying missions, on a large scale, carefully placing anti-tank mines on roads and tracks used by Russian vehicles. It is not clear if these are included in the general statistics. The video states that the unit lost 52 bombers during the month, and that the life cycle of each bomber is an average of 69 sorties before being shot down. This shows that Russian efforts to stop the bombers, with interceptor drones and other means, are still largely ineffective. It also means that the cost-per-sortie for a bomber costing (say) $20k is less than $300, making them competitive with FPVs. However, this may change as Russian interceptors become more common. Equally, as Ukraine explore new arming options including guided bombs and grenade and rocket launchers for the multicopters, they may become even more effective. The statistics also include the loss of 228 'Mavic' type consumer quadcopters in the month, with 10,252 reconnaissance missions flow, giving an average of 45 flights per drone. This is very much more than earlier on in the war and suggests that operators are now able to stay back and avoid Russian jamming. What we do not know is what proportion of the 7,874 FPVs succumbed to jamming and what proportion made it through to the target. Anecdotally jamming losses may be as high as 50% for some units, but Birds of Magyar are starting to deploy fiber optic FPVs which are immune to jamming, including this one which flew underground in a building used by Russian soldiers. It is also interesting to compare the Birds of Magyar statistics with the overall figures for Ukraine. In March and April, Birds of Magyar accounted for 6-10% of the total number of tanks and other armored vehicles, but only 1-2% of the amount of artillery. The Ukrainian military claim to destroy more far more artillery than armored vehicles, but for Birds of Magyar these figures are reversed. This is surprising given that Birds of Magyar have perfected their technique of destroying artillery pieces by having an FPV approach at dead slow speed and blast a hole in the gun barrel, a tactic regularly displayed in their videos. This indicates somebody else is claiming most of the artillery kills. This may be a reflection of the lack of artillery at the section of front where Birds of Magyar are fighting; or another unit with specialist equipment may be tasked with destroying artillery. Another useful data point is the figure of 200,000 FPVs produced in Ukraine per month at the start of this year, stated by Ivan Havryliuk, Deputy Minister of Defence. Assuming no stockpiling, this suggests that Birds of Magyar use around 4% of the total supply of FPVs roughly line with the proportion of the total kills claimed. Finally, comparing this month's data with previous months downs just how rapidly Birds of Magyar are increasing their kill rate. A year ago, in March 2024 the unit hit 293 targets. By December 2024 this was up to 2966, now it is over 5,000. This reflects the rapid growth of the unit and the fact that, given an increased supply of drones, they will score more hits. Scaling up FPVs production – the number per month should more than double during the course of 2025 – will directly translate into more Russian casualties and equipment destroyed. 'There are a lot of numbers but they matter,' says the video commentary. 'We have a long and fierce battle ahead.' This is certainly true. But even Russia's huge army cannot survive this sort of attrition indefinitely, and Birds of Magyar's numbers show just how well Ukraine can fight even without foreign weapons.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Yahoo
Ukraine Discloses New Method To Defeat Russian Fiber-Optic-Controlled FPV Drones
A storied Ukrainian military drone unit said it has developed a way to counter an increasingly deadly weapon — Russian first-person view (FPV) drones that use fiber optic cables instead of radio waves to connect with their controllers, making them impervious to jamming and other forms of electronic warfare. The Magyar Birds Brigade claims it has devised a system using mobile radars to provide early warning for incoming FPV drones several kilometers away. Once they detect the threat, the unit then launches its own drones to intercept the Russian ones before they can reach their targets. '… the first options for [the] detection and destruction [of Russian FPV fiber optic guided drones] exist and are already being used' by the brigade, claimed its commander, Robert Brovdi, who uses the callsign 'Magyar.' Brovdi posted a video on his Telegram channel purporting to show one of his drones destroying a Russian fiber-optic-guided FPV drone. Notable is the large spool on the back of the Russian drone. It contains an extremely thin but strong wire linking the drone with its controller. This capability has turned an already fearsome weapon into something much harder to defeat. Because their communications are not degraded when flying very low to the ground or even in structures, they can also hunt just feet off the ground and into enclosed areas as long as their data cable stays intact. While Brovdi touts the system, he does not specify what kind of mobile radar his unit is using. It is likely a microwave radar system, like those that operate in Ku-band for counter drone applications. The radar's short wavelength is optimized to sport small, relatively slow-moving drones. The drawback is that they have very limited range measured in just a handful of miles. So these sensors are great for detecting and tracking drones, but they don't provide much early warning and craft can move in and out of their detection range quickly. Still, if one of these radars can be pushed forward to the front, it could provide critical detection of incoming FPV drones over a defined area and a fix on where a rapidly reacting counter-FPV drone can find it. The Magyar Birds' system is the latest development in what has become a leap-frogging duel between Ukrainian and Russian FPV drones and countermeasures. As the FPV drones became more prominent on the battlefield, they now rival the importance of traditional artillery. Both sides have also been using drones to take out other drones. This capability first emerged in the skies over Ukraine in October 2022 when a Ukrainian Mavic drone swatted down a Russian one. One of the first such battles was captured in this video you can see below. WW1-style duel. Ukrainan Mavic-drone, which we have delivered to one of the airborne units in Donetsk region, destroyes russian opponent. Amazing!Pls support our Armed Forces: — Serhiy Prytula (@serhiyprytula) October 13, 2022 Last summer, videos emerged of Ukraine using its FPV drones to take out larger, more expensive Russian surveillance and strike drones. Today, Ukraine has multiple types of drones dedicated to hunting other drones, and Russia is developing and deploying similar systems. You can see one of those encounters in the following video. Interception of the Russian UAV kamikaze "Lancet" using an FPV drone with air detonation. The work of the "Signum" unit of the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade. — MilitaryNewsUA (@front_ukrainian) June 19, 2024 FPV drones hunting fiber-optic FPV drones in part takes advantage of the latter's greatest advantage and turns it into a vulnerability. While the cables prevent them from being jammed, the extra weight of the large spools needed to operate over long distances slows them down and makes them less maneuverable. That's something the Magyar Birds noted in the video the unit posted. In his Telegram post, Brovdi urged Ukraine to rush mobile radars capable of detecting small drones to the front lines. 'The army must promptly and massively re-equip with mobile versions of radars every 2-4 km of the front line and with calculations of conventional FPV fighters to destroy enemy FPVs intercepted by mobile radars on fiber optics,' he suggested. These same radars are in extreme demand around the globe as the threat from drones even in peaceful areas explodes. They can even be found on super yachts. These same systems provide awareness of drone activities around military bases and other critical installations, and many of these types of locales still lack them. It's also worth noting that these sensors, especially commercial grade ones, are vulnerable to detection and attack themselves as their emissions can be detected, triangulated and rapidly targeted. While deploying such sensors on land vehicles, from crewed to uncrewed ones, could help in terms of survivability, these systems will still be highly vulnerable. Given that Ukraine is fighting across a 600-mile front in its own country plus the territory it is battling for in Russia's Kursk region, it seems at best this could be used as a point-defense system to defend key areas or to help pave the way for limited advances, at least for now. Still, their need points to a near future where advanced counter-drone sensors will be absolutely critical wherever troops are present, and especially on an active battlefield. Contact the author: howard@
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Yahoo
Ukraine Discloses New Method To Defeat Russian Fiber-Optic-Controlled FPV Drones
A storied Ukrainian military drone unit said it has developed a way to counter an increasingly deadly weapon — Russian first-person view (FPV) drones that use fiber optic cables instead of radio waves to connect with their controllers, making them impervious to jamming and other forms of electronic warfare. The Magyar Birds Brigade claims it has devised a system using mobile radars to provide early warning for incoming FPV drones several kilometers away. Once they detect the threat, the unit then launches its own drones to intercept the Russian ones before they can reach their targets. '…the first options for [the] detection and destruction [of Russian FPV fiber optic guided drones] exist and are already being used' by the brigade, claimed its commander, Robert Brovdi, who uses the callsign 'Magyar.' Brovdi posted a video on his Telegram channel purporting to show one of his drones destroying a Russian fiber-optic-guided FPV drone. Notable is the large spool on the back of the Russian drone. It contains an extremely thin but strong wire linking the drone with its controller. This capability has turned an already fearsome weapon into something much harder to defeat. Because their communications are not degraded when flying very low to the ground or even in structures, they can also hunt just feet off the ground and into enclosed areas as long as their data cable stays intact. While Brovdi touts the system, he does not specify what kind of mobile radar his unit is using. It is likely a microwave radar system, like those that operate in Ku-band for counter drone applications. The radar's short wavelength is optimized to sport small, relatively slow-moving drones. The drawback is that they have very limited range measured in just a handful of miles. So these sensors are great for detecting and tracking drones, but they don't provide much early warning and craft can move in and out of their detection range quickly. Still, if one of these radars can be pushed forward to the front, it could provide critical detection of incoming FPV drones over a defined area and a fix on where a rapidly reacting counter-FPV drone can find it. The Magyar Birds' system is the latest development in what has become a leap-frogging duel between Ukrainian and Russian FPV drones and countermeasures. As the FPV drones became more prominent on the battlefield, they now rival the importance of traditional artillery. Both sides have also been using drones to take out other drones. This capability first emerged in the skies over Ukraine in October 2022 when a Ukrainian Mavic drone swatted down a Russian one. One of the first such battles was captured in this video you can see below. WW1-style duel. Ukrainan Mavic-drone, which we have delivered to one of the airborne units in Donetsk region, destroyes russian opponent. Amazing!Pls support our Armed Forces: — Serhiy Prytula (@serhiyprytula) October 13, 2022 Last summer, videos emerged of Ukraine using its FPV drones to take out larger, more expensive Russian surveillance and strike drones. Today, Ukraine has multiple types of drones dedicated to hunting other drones, and Russia is developing and deploying similar systems. You can see one of those encounters in the following video. Interception of the Russian UAV kamikaze "Lancet" using an FPV drone with air detonation. The work of the "Signum" unit of the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade. — MilitaryNewsUA (@front_ukrainian) June 19, 2024 FPV drones hunting fiber-optic FPV drones in part takes advantage of the latter's greatest advantage and turns it into a vulnerability. While the cables prevent them from being jammed, the extra weight of the large spools needed to operate over long distances slows them down and makes them less maneuverable. That's something the Magyar Birds noted in the video the unit posted. In his Telegram post, Brovdi urged Ukraine to rush mobile radars capable of detecting small drones to the front lines. 'The army must promptly and massively re-equip with mobile versions of radars every 2-4 km of the front line and with calculations of conventional FPV fighters to destroy enemy FPVs intercepted by mobile radars on fiber optics,' he suggested. These same radars are in extreme demand around the globe as the threat from drones even in peaceful areas explodes. They can even be found on super yachts. These same systems provide awareness of drone activities around military bases and other critical installations, and many of these types of locales still lack them. It's also worth noting that these sensors, especially commercial grade ones, are vulnerable to detection and attack themselves as their emissions can be detected, triangulated and rapidly targeted. While deploying such sensors on land vehicles, from crewed to uncrewed ones, could help in terms of survivability, these systems will still be highly vulnerable. Given that Ukraine is fighting across a 600-mile front in its own country plus the territory it is battling for in Russia's Kursk region, it seems at best this could be used as a point-defense system to defend key areas or to help pave the way for limited advances, at least for now. Still, their need points to a near future where advanced counter-drone sensors will be absolutely critical wherever troops are present, and especially on an active battlefield. Contact the author: howard@
