“Russia Is Churning Out Drones,” ran a recent Wall Street Journal headline. “Ukraine Is Feeling the Impact.”
Since Russia struck a deal with Iran to produce its Shahed drones in Russia, strikes from Moscow have been growing. A recent overnight attack, which involved 440 drones, left 15 dead.
It’s only the latest proof that drones are now central to modern conflict. They can scout enemy lines. They can jam signals. They can hit targets. They can send back live data. They’re fast, cheap and versatile. And though Russia is ramping up its drone use, Ukraine understands this better than anyone. It has embraced drones like no military before it.
The Achilles heel of drone warfare
Most of the drones used by Ukraine in the conflict have been small, first-person view drones or light reconnaissance models. But their effect has been huge, keeping costs low and casualties lower and repelling Russia’s more industrial, traditional forces. But those drones have one fatal flaw: they depend on signals. GPS, remote guidance and real-time data links are what make drones effective. Cut the signal, and you cut out the drone’s brain. The drone becomes scrap with wings.
That weakness might not be new, but the scale of drone use makes it more relevant than ever. The air is thick with radio interference, spoofing attacks and jamming. Reports suggest that Russia is neutralizing 70 percent to 80 percent of Ukraine’s drones before they complete their missions. And they’re not being shot down, but blinded, tricked or fried. Which isn’t cheap. A drone that costs $1,000 but only survives one in five missions might as well cost $5,000.
So far, the industry has focused on speed, payload and artificial intelligence, emphasizing better cameras, smarter targeting and longer range. But one thing has been missing, and that’s resilience. And more to the point, protection against electromagnetic interference (EMI).
In commercial aviation, shielding against EMI is routine. In advanced military systems, it’s mandatory. But the drone sector has treated it as optional. Given Russia’s success in downing Ukrainian drones (and now the expansion of its own drone fleet), that’s no longer a tenable position.
Energy weapons and shielding technologies
Directed energy weapons are not science fiction. The Epirus Leonidas, for example, can down whole swarms of drones with pulses of microwave energy. High-power electromagnetic systems can already knock out a drone’s circuitry mid-flight. As these systems spread, unprotected drones will fail not just often, but predictably. Drone countermeasures are getting better all the time. The field is shifting fast, and the advantage belongs to whomever adapts first.
Shielding technology already exists.
The advanced, EMI-resistant materials exist. The knowledge is there. And the cost is no longer prohibitive, as it once was. The puzzle is why so few are using it. One reason may be psychological: offense seems more glamorous. Everyone wants to build the next killer app, the next strike drone. Defense seems less important.
But defense matters – and it matters not just for Ukraine, but for Europe.
Rearming of Europe with Drones
Europe is rearming at pace. Senior officials have warned me that the continent must be ready to repel a full-scale invasion from Russia within about 16 months. That means NATO members will need drones– and lots of them. But it also means drones that can survive in a modern battlespace, where electronic warfare is in use.
At present, too much government procurement is slow and cautious. Too few funds reach the small firms that move fast and take risks. Bureaucracy blocks innovation and supply chains remain fragile.
These problems began in an era when Europe could rely on American power. That guarantee is now, at best, uncertain. Which means Europe needs to bolster resilience at home, strip the stigma from defense and invite investors in. Europe’s peace depends on its strength.
Drones have made a major difference to Ukraine’s war effort because they’ve been able to do their jobs. But as electronic warfare has improved, drones are less effective. That comes at a price in human lives as well as defense budgets.
Drone protection is becoming the precondition for performance, and that applies not only to Ukraine, but everywhere.
