Ukraine's optimisation of drone warfare and lessons for India

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, in his keynote address at the Ran Samwad (Discourse on Warfighting) conclave at the Army War College, Mhow on August 25-26, 2025, underlined the need to prepare for protracted wars—lasting even as long as five years. Inaugurating a drone manufacturing facility in Noida soon after, on August 30, he stressed that drone warfare will be central to India’s future military capability.

Drone warfare has emerged as one of the most decisive factors in recent conflicts—the Nagorno-Karabakh war, Houthi-Saudi clashes, the Russia–Ukraine war, the Israel–Hamas war, and even during the recent India–Pakistan conflict. 'Drones' here refer to a wide array of unmanned systems: aerial drones (from cheap quadcopters to complex UAVs/UCAVs), uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), and underwater (UUV) drones, performing reconnaissance, strike, and logistics roles. Their lethality multiplies when employed as AI-controlled swarms or in combination with precision-guided munitions (PGMs) like cruise missiles or glide bombs. For weaker actors, drones provide asymmetric capability to offset conventional disadvantages.

Among these aforesaid conflicts, Ukraine’s use of drones against a stronger Russia offers the most relevant lessons for India. Predicted initially to collapse under Russia’s superior force, Ukraine has resisted fiercely, with drones as a critical equaliser.

Ukraine’s procurement scale-up illustrates its strategic commitment: from thousands in 2023 to over a million drones in 2024, with a goal of 4.5 million in 2025, 96 per cent sourced domestically. This self-reliance and rapid innovation cycle carry significant lessons for India.

Ukraine’s Optimisation of Drone Warfare

Ukraine transformed drones from a niche intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) tool into a decisive arm of combat power—integrated into manoeuvre, firepower, and logistics. Key elements of this optimisation:

1. Centralised Control and Coordination

Ukraine created an Unmanned Systems Force (USF)—a dedicated branch for drone warfare. The USF unifies operations across services, manages procurement, training, and R&D, and partners with over 125 domestic producers. It deploys drone command posts, integrates unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into operational planning, and employs AI-driven data analysis for rapid decision-making.

2. Mass Production & Rapid Innovation

Through initiatives like Army of Drones and the Brave1 technology cluster, Ukraine mobilised hundreds of small firms and volunteer groups to produce thousands of drones monthly. Battlefield feedback loops enable design tweaks within weeks, not years. Cost-efficiency is key: first person view (FPV) kamikaze drones costing $400–700 routinely destroy million-dollar tanks and artillery.

3. Full Integration into the Kill Chain

Drones compress sensor-to-shooter time to 3–5 minutes for artillery or HIMARS strikes. Persistent quadcopter surveillance ensures constant observation of enemy positions, logistics routes, and rear echelons.

4. Diversification of Drone Types

FPV Kamikaze Drones – low-cost, high-speed, with high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) or thermobaric warheads for anti-armour and trench clearance.

Loitering Munitions – e.g., Warmate, for deep interdiction.

Long-Range UAVs – Bober and UJ-22 for strategic strikes on oil depots, airbases, even Moscow.

Naval Drones – Magura V5 and Sea Baby inflicted major Black Sea Fleet losses.

ISR Drones – Fixed-wing systems for persistent observation in electronic warfare (EW)-contested zones.

5. Advanced EW Adaptation

Ukraine employs frequency-hopping, encryption, analog backups, and mesh networking to maintain control under heavy jamming. Counter-UAS teams neutralize Russian drones while shielding their own assets.

6. Night and All-Weather Capability

Thermal-equipped FPVs enable 24/7 operations, particularly during low-visibility conditions when enemy defenses are weak. Weather-resilient designs sustain operations in snow, rain, and high winds.

7. Integration with Other Arms

Every artillery battery is paired with drones for targeting and battle damage assessment (BDA). Infantry units embed small drone teams for reconnaissance, minefield mapping, and grenade-dropping. Mechanized units use drones for overwatch against ATGM ambushes.

8. Decentralised Doctrine & Training

Drone schools exist at brigade level. Thousands of operators are trained in FPV piloting, EW survival, and strike coordination—supplemented by volunteer programs to absorb attrition.

9. Psychological and Strategic Impact

Constant drone surveillance and precision strikes erode Russian troop morale. Strategic strikes on targets deep inside Russia demonstrate Ukraine’s ability to impose costs beyond the frontline.

Lessons for India: Building a Drone-Centric Force

The Ukraine war proves drones are a direct and decisive component of warfighting, not auxiliary. For India, facing technologically advanced adversaries  across varied terrains—Himalayan heights, deserts, dense urban areas, and maritime zones—a comprehensive approach is essential, spanning organisation, equipment, TTPs, and training.

1. Organisational Reforms

Joint Drone Warfare Directorate needs to be established under CDS - for standardisation, acquisition, and joint doctrine.

Dedicated UAS Units need to be raised: Battalion Level: UAS platoon (to include nano ISR drones, FPVs, counter-UAS teams). Brigade Level: Uncrewed Effects Company (to include FPV swarms, loitering munitions, EW detachments, mobile repair hubs). Corps Level: UAS & EW Groups for long-range ISR and strike.

Air Force: Manage long-range strike drones, attritable loyal wingmen, and swarm integration into IACCS.

Navy: Raise USV and UUV squadrons for coastal defense, mine-laying, and precision maritime strikes.

2. Equipment Modernisation

A layered drone capability is essential, to include drones for various roles and levels:

Tactical Drones (Platoon/Battalion): Mini ISR drones, FPV kamikaze drones (₹2–8 lakh), modified, commercial-off-the- shelf (COTS) drones.

Operational Drones (Brigade/Division): Loitering munitions (20–100 km range), relay UAVs, EW-resistant ISR drones.

Strategic Drones: Long-range one-way UAVs (1,000–2,000 km) for deep strikes.

Maritime Drones: USVs for anti-ship missions; UUVs for ISR and mining.

Counter-Drone Systems: Layered C-UAS with passive sensors, jammers, microwave weapons, and hard-kill options.

3. Tactics, Techniques & Procedures (TTPs)

Kill Chain Compression: Target-to-strike within 5 minutes.

EW Survival: Train for GNSS-denied environments using inertial navigation and frequency-hopping.

Swarm Tactics: FPV swarms and decoy drones to overwhelm defenses.

Rear-Area Protection: Harden logistics and artillery positions with CCD measures and mobile C-UAS teams.

Maritime Employment: USV “wolf packs” for standoff naval strikes.

4. Training and Human Capital

Multi-Tier Pipeline for training drone pilots and commanders: Tier 1 - Basic FPV pilots (4 weeks). Tier 2 - Advanced strike operators (6 weeks). Tier 3: C-UAS operators (4 weeks). Specialist Courses for drone commanders.

Simulation training for typical drone warfare situations, like EW-contested scenarios and FPV swarm drills. 

Training for manning Forward Repair and Build (FRB) hubs, with focus on 3D printing, battery reconditioning and rapid battlefield upgrades.

5. Industrial Ecosystem

Adopt a Ukraine-style Army of Drones model: Public-private partnerships must be established with startups and defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs). iDEX Challenges for high-altitude endurance drones, low-signature FPVs, and counter-drone direct energy weapons (DEWs) must be addressed. Innovation Cells should be embedded with operational units for rapid prototyping and feedback.

6. Policy and Legal Framework

Rules of engagement (ROE) for AI-assisted strikes, with human-on-the-loop, need to be updated in a timely manner. establish Cybersecurity standards for UAS control stations need to be established and data protection norms should be formalised.

7. Metrics for Success

There is a need to set out ideal standards of sortie rates per brigade per day during war. Also, kill chain time needs to be set out: e.g. less than 5 minutes from detection to strike. Cost Benefit ratios (drone vs target destruction) are also an important metric for monitoring success of drone strikes. Effectiveness of EW resilience can  be judged by tracking mission success under jamming. And, success or otherwise of innovation tempo can be judged by keeping track of the number of days from field feedback to upgrade.

Conclusion

Ukraine’s experience underscores that drone warfare is driven by speed, scale, and adaptability—not just technology. For India, the imperative is to institutionalise dedicated drone units, build a diverse equipment mix, develop resilient TTPs, and sustain a continuous innovation loop supported by industry and academia. A modular, scalable, and joint drone ecosystem will give India a decisive asymmetric edge against adversaries across the Himalayas, the LoC, and the Indian Ocean - deterring adversaries and enabling dominance in future conflicts.

The writer was Vice Chief of the Indian Army.