Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin
[ColonelCassad] "I think that we have belatedly engaged in the serious introduction of unmanned vehicles. This is objective" (c) Deputy Prime Minister Borisov
Briefly, on the official recognition of Deputy Prime Minister Borisov on the topic that the army is not properly provided with UAVs. Despite all the sarcasm about the recognition of an obvious fact, it is worth noting that official recognition is an important step towards solving the problem.
Just as after the Olympic War, the lack of normal reconnaissance UAVs was recognized as a significant problem, which played an important role in the subsequent development of the industry and the emergence of those UAVs that worked in subsequent conflicts.
The problem, at the current stage, seems to be that the Russian Federation has a whole zoo of various models of drones - reconnaissance, strike, kamikaze, but their total number for the current tasks of the front is obviously not enough. The problem is in quantity, not quality. You can cite the combat experience of Syria, Libya, Karabakh as much as you like, but it is obvious that this direction of the military-industrial complex does not provide the army in conditions where the nature of this particular war requires not tens, but thousands of UAVs on a huge front - from small quadrocopters for an infantry platoon and loitering ammunition to full-fledged ROCK and powerful strike UAVs.
The volume of UAVs operating in Azerbaijan in Karabakh, the modern front in Ukraine will grind into porridge in a week. This also applies to the Libyan theater of operations. A completely different scope of the theater of operations and completely different volumes. Total. Not only UAVs.
Now we are operating in a situation where what the army has is added to what the civil society sends through humanitarian aid. This is obviously not enough. It's good that the state has gone from the dead-end position "Shut up shit, the authorities know better" to the adequate "yes, there is a problem, we are solving it."
This highlights both the urgency of the problem and the fact that it is being seriously addressed. When there will be a structural effect from this activity, it is difficult to say without being immersed in the structures of the military-industrial complex. At the front, of course, they judge simply - UAVs for different tasks either exist or not.
The problem can and should be solved by states by increasing production (which is already happening), deploying new assembly lines (I hope this is also happening) and building new enterprises (I hope that there will be more factories for the production of UAVs in the country as a result of this war).
Along the way, it makes sense to consider the possibility of purchasing UAVs abroad (in addition to the obvious purchases of quadrocopters from the Chinese). Including kamikaze and percussion. There is no need to be shy here, especially if the problem is already recognized.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin/53558 - zinc
PS. The fact that UAVs will play an ever-increasing role in local wars has been written since the mid-10s, based on the study of the experience of wars in Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Karabakh. The current situation only confirmed the earlier conclusion that UAVs would become an integral part of the modern battlefield in the wars of the 20s with a significant degree of influence on the course of hostilities, without being some kind of prodigy.
Now, it's just the same mandatory program as a gun, tank or rocket launcher. Who did not understand this before the war in Ukraine, now I think they could see in practice some changes in the nature of hostilities that are formed as a result of the massive use of UAVs by the warring parties for various tasks.
The fact that we have been delayed with a massive implementation is bad. For a conflict of the level of Syria, what was maybe and was enough. But for the war in Ukraine, this was not enough. Moreover, it cannot be said that they did not know about this problem and that everyone was silent about it. This created unnecessary problems for us, which we have to solve as we go along.
Obviously, this experience, both negative and positive, will affect the development of the entire industry and will obviously lead to a multiple increase in the number of UAVs in the army. Hence the moral - do not be late with the UAV. And in general, do not be late - those who lag behind in the modern carnivorous world are beaten.