Moscow, Kyiv Shooting Down Own Drones over Ukraine

Increasing reliance on drones for attack & reconnaissance and the deployment of anti-drone systems is leading to UAVs being destoryed in friendly fire.

Often, drones belonging to the one army but used by a different unit or battle group are shot down by another unit of the same army.

Both sides are increasingly relying on drone detection and suppression systems without in-built systems to differentiate between friend or foe.

According to Russian publication,Topwar.ru, the Russian military is attaching fishing lines or nylon thread to the UAVs, so that they can be "reeled in" in case the drones' naviation systems is hacked into for forcing the UAV out of the control of its operator.

The growing suppression of drones is recorded even at a distance of 4-5 km behind the battlefield. It is unlikely that enemy electronic warfare (EW)equipment is working at this distance which puts the suspicion on their own or "friendly" EW systems.

There are numerous cases when own drones were mistaken for enemy UAVs, for example, soldiers from a tank unit intercepted artillery drones returning from a mission with an anti-drone rifle. Similarly, electronic warfare stations can also get confused regarding the ownership of the UAV.

According to the Topwar.ru's sources, it is time for the heads of the UAV services to take into account that different units have their own drones, and the military leaders that manage EW stations to systematize the use of anti-drone guns, so that the commanders of neighboring units are aware of their work.