Ukrainian military unveils number of Russian equipment targeted by drones

Defense Express reports about this, citing statistics on the use of drones to destroy Russian weapons, military equipment and personnel from the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov.

It only applies to UAV companies established inside the Armed Forces (15 companies), Ukraine's Security Service, the National Guard (one company each), and the State Special Communications Service.

In total, the operators of the Drone Army hit 189 pieces of equipment. And thanks to this information, it is possible to single out the percentage of losses caused by 'kamikaze' drones by comparing it with the data of the General Staff.

Simultaneously, the General Staff's statistics use the phrase "total enemy combat losses," whilst the Ministry of Digital Transformation's statistics use the phrase "targeted."

Damage to equipment does not always lead to its loss. But it should also be noted that the data only includes "UAV companies" and not all drone attacks.

"If we take into account all the enemy's losses, according to the Ukrainian General Staff, from August 28 to September 4, 2023, Russia lost 84 tanks, 109 armored combat vehicles, 208 artillery systems, 13 MLRS, 39 special vehicles and 295 vehicles," Defense Express’ analysts write. 

If we compare the two statistics with all the caveats, the share of drones will look like this:

• Tanks: 44%.
• Armored combat vehicles: 57%
• Artillery systems: 20,1%
• MLRS: 15,3%
• Special equipment: 2,5%
• Motor vehicles: 22.77%

Thus, drones, and we are obviously talking about both 'kamikaze' drones and UAVs which drop munitions, are most often used to destroy armored vehicles, and account for half of the enemy's total losses.

This situation can be explained by the fact that the drone is a so-called NLOS weapon, which means it can hit targets outside the line of sight. This makes them much more effective than ATGMs, the vast majority of which can only attack targets when they appear in the sights.

Armored vehicles in motion are a rather difficult target for artillery, and therefore the choice of 'kamikaze' drones for the attack is quite pragmatic.

The second place goes to automotive vehicles, which is easily explained by the fact that they are also maneuverable and widespread.

"Another interesting fact is that the statistics of the Ministry of Digital Transformation also include the targeted personnel. This figure is 1.46% of the total human losses of the Russian Federation for the same period. The latter directly indicates that the use of drones specifically for the elimination of personnel is still quite low, although it is potentially quite effective," Defense Express reports.