"As the Ukrainian missile moved toward the Russian radar system, soldiers in the elite unit whose drone detected the target waited with bated breath." "About a minute more," the drone pilot, 46-year-old Solijara, told Reuters before silence reigned in their van, full of screens and cables, hidden in the bushes in the northwestern part of the Kharkiv region.
"The crew, from the 15th Separate Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade, operate the 'Shark,' a Ukrainian drone with advanced technology, including a camera that can read text on clothing from 2 kilometers above the ground."
It is part of a growing domestic drone program that has emerged in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022, producing a range of combat and reconnaissance aerial devices that play an increasingly important role in combat.
This time, the drone that found the target for the artillery unit was temporarily disabled when the Russian electronic jamming system interrupted the video transmission.
When the image reappeared about a minute later, the team saw a smoke crater some 50 meters in front of the Russian radar system, reports the British agency.
The operation, filmed by Reuters on condition of anonymity, was a small part of a complex cat-and-mouse game in the drone war that is playing out along front lines that stretch for about 1000 kilometers.
And Russia has a significant fleet of drones, as well as sophisticated electronic jamming systems that can disrupt the signal of a drone piloted far behind trenches and deflect guided missiles.
"They are adding electronic warfare systems that operate on other frequencies, learning to hide properly, moving their anti-aircraft defenses to new locations," Soliara said.
The crew of the "shark" still managed to retrieve the drone and claim that it helped destroy a large number of targets, including radar and air defense systems.
"About a month after I joined, we found an air defense system, hit it, it was a great sight," said the team commander, a 26-year-old former merchant ship navigator who identified himself as Kenobi.
"I remember that case best," he said, adding that anti-aircraft missiles were fired like fireworks after the system was hit.
"Ukraine uses a range of drones from reputable local manufacturers as well as Western suppliers to locate targets and engage them directly. The crew stated that Ukrainian drones are usually easier to repair if damaged, as they can be quickly sent back to the manufacturer."
"The shark is like an iPhone among drones of this type," Solijara said. “It's easy to maintain and operate. We didn't lose a single aircraft the whole time."
Speaking to Reuters later that day, 15th Brigade Commander Oleksandr Popov said drones were playing a significant role on the frontline.
"We calculated that a shark-like drone can pay for itself in just one flight, because we can destroy a high-tech military system worth millions of dollars," he said. It is estimated that the drone costs about 50.000 dollars”.
Long-range eyes are especially valuable in the war between Ukraine and Russia, where artillery dominates the battlefield and thousands of missiles are fired daily by both sides.
"Artillery has long been the deity of war, and artillery reconnaissance is the eyes of the gods," Soliara said. "That's what they call us".
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