- A new report estimates that Ukraine is losing roughly 10,000 drones every month.
- A sophisticated electronic warfare system is among Russia's biggest strengths, researchers said.
- Ukraine "has the initiative" but Russia's army should not be written off, they added.
A new assessment of Russia's current military capabilities on the front line has estimated that its forces are taking down around 10,000 Ukrainian drones every month.
Electronic warfare is a "critical component" of Russia's tactics and is contributing to the staggering losses of Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, commonly known as drones), according to a report by the UK-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), released on Friday.
The estimated figures — which amounts to more than 300 drones a day — was attributed to three unnamed Ukrainian officers interviewed in April and May.
The report did not specify what models comprise the claimed losses or in what proportion, but drone expert Dr James Patton Rogers told Insider the majority of those being lost are relatively cheap, small commercial drones used for surveillance.
The figures are indicative of the unprecedented scale at which UAVs are being used in Ukraine, he said, adding that this is "one of the world's first drone vs drone conflicts."
Patton Rogers said that while the figures are "likely" overestimated, they underline just how effective Russia's electronic warfare has become at countering Ukraine's extensive use of drones.
According to the RUSI report, along the roughly 750 miles of the conflict's front line, Russia maintains a major electronic warfare system roughly every 6 miles. These are set back about 4 miles from the front and are focused mainly on neutralizing drones, the report said.
Sophisticated Russian systems such as the Shipovnik-Aero jamming station are hard to detect and can imitate other signals, the researchers said. "It also has a sophisticated range of effects for downing UAVs," they said, including interfering with navigational systems.
Ukraine fields a wide range of drones, from small, commercial-grade UAVs often used for reconnaissance or as loitering munitions, up to the multi-million dollar Bayraktar TB2, capable of taking out Russian tanks.
Drone warfare was a celebrated aspect of Ukraine's early success holding back the Russian advance, prompting an official fundraising campaign — United24 — which was created to form a "drone army."
But by the summer of 2022 it was clear that Russia's electronic warfare and air defense capabilities had ramped up, as Insider's Alia Shoaib reported.
Frontline drone operators told The Guardian in April this year that one of the most popular models — the DJI commercial drone — is rapidly losing its effectiveness.
Nonetheless, Patton Rogers said, Ukraine is developing "its own resilient drone systems to fill this gap in capacity."
Overall, the RUSI researchers described how, after the Russian army's "disaster" of a performance at the outset of the invasion, it has adapted to Ukraine's pushback, even as it continues to struggle with poor morale and effective use of heavy armor and air force attacks.
"The result is a structure that becomes better over time at managing the problems it immediately faces, but also one that struggles to anticipate new threats," the report said.
"Ukraine, today, has the initiative," it added. "But as the Russian military adapts, there can be no room for complacency."