Russia ditches heavy armor for drones, electronic warfare amid rising losses

Ukrinform reported the information.

As Ukraine's National Guard spokesman Ruslan Muzychuk noted, the Russian armored-vehicle losses in summer are relatively small compared with the winter and spring periods.

“If in August Russia lost 110 combat armored vehicles, then in January–April that number was about 600. This is primarily due to the use of drones. The enemy understands that equipment survivability during assaults is quite short, so it makes greater use of infantry groups and automotive vehicles. The number of automotive vehicles remains consistently high. In summer Ukraine's Defense Forces destroyed on average more than 3,000 units of automotive vehicles. At present this is one of the main maneuvering means — i.e., fast, mobile, small-sized equipment such as buggies and motorcycles,” Muzychuk said.

He noted that both Ukraine and Russia have increased their use of drones and new drone models.

“The number of drones and the tactics for their use are increasing. And not only on the enemy’s side — on our side these are changing and being scaled up as well. Radio-electronic reconnaissance and countermeasure systems are also appearing, which have a significant impact on the battlefield. Given that an increasing number of new-type drones are appearing, this affects the number of infantry assaults and the formation of defensive battle lines. Since the start of this year alone, the number of drones used by National Guard units has tripled. These are various types, ranging from FPV drones to those that conduct aerial reconnaissance or carry combat payloads,” Muzychuk clarified.