James Peterson
The Russo-Ukraine war has demonstrated that unmanned systems are integral to modern tactics and an asset that commanders must plan for and plan against. Ukrainian forces have used commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) drones since 2014 – primarily the $2,000 USD DJI Mavic – for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) as well as tactical-level targeting. In September 2024, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed legislation establishing the USF as a separate branch of the Ukrainian armed forces.
The USF emerged through a bottom-up approach, ultimately driven by end users actively engaged in combat on the frontlines. Before the USF’s establishment, operators communicated directly to develop the best tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) for employing these systems in combat. This system did not allow for a shared understanding across the force, which degraded the common operating and intelligence pictures of the battlespace. This lack of shared understanding and situational awareness costs the lives of many soldiers across the battlefield.
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