each new war brings new ways of doing things with new tools, and this one in ukraine brings you lots of drones;

THE DRONE might not spot you, but if it does, there is only one thing to do: hide well, and hide quickly. “Major”, a 25-year-old drone pilot operating near the hottest front lines of the south, in Zaporizhia province, says your chances are not good if an enemy pilot has you in his sights. The drone can come from behind your own positions, and masquerade as your own. The cameras are not great. But running at speeds of 150-160kph, it will always outpace you. “If your cover is poor, then you are likely a dead man,” he says. Major has survived a pursuit four times, the last time in mid-October. Two of his closest comrades have been less fortunate. “God, not physics, decides if you survive,” he says.

In a war increasingly dominated by aerial killing-machines, the hunters are rapidly becoming the hunted. The controllers for most drones leave their own electronic trace, and if a pilot isn’t careful, the enemy can home in on them. “Hummer,” a commander in Ukraine’s 47th brigade, also operational along the Zaporizhia front, says the Russians fire everything they have once they identify a target. They can use their own strike drones, but they also apply high-precision artillery, mines, glide bombs, and even, on occasion, saboteur groups.  Major says he has lost 15% of his colleagues over the last few months. Hummer says his figures are lower, but refuses to elaborate.

Ukraine is the pioneer of the first-person-view (FPV) drones: craft that are flown, video-game-like, by goggle-wearing pilots with real-time manoeuvrability. The drones can cost just a few hundred dollars to build, but can deliver explosives capable of destroying or incapacitating equipment with a value of millions. In a day, a single operator can take out a dozen high-value assets, with corresponding human losses. That has made the drone pilot an even more prized kill than a sniper, one front-line commander suggests. “A lot of people want to become drone pilots because they think the work is further back and safer. The reality is that it’s extremely dangerous to be flying battlefield drones.”.........more......