The West is not deep in the drone race. This can be a good thing.

• The drones are determined by war in Ukraine, and both sides take them out.

• The West lags backward, but experts say that huge production is not wise in view of the speed of technical transformations.

• Although the knowledge of the drone war is very important, some systems may be less vital in future battles.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Make drones a distinctive weapon for modern war, but analysts warn that the West should not hurry to copy the Kyiv and Musow approach.

In Ukraine, low-cost drones raised the battlefield-the discovery of enemy forces, thwarting maneuvers, and Tanks destroy With hardware sometimes deserves only a few hundred dollars.

Russia and Ukraine both of them bet on this inexpensive technology. Ukraine said it had made 2.2 million drones last year and aims to achieve 4 million this year, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said in April that Russia had made more than 1.5 million drones last year. There are plans to expand it.

The West is closely watched. NATO armies are executed Training of drone warfareDefense companies designing new systems similar to the successes of the battlefield in Ukraine. But war experts warn that simply copying what the armies fighting the Ukrainian war will do will be short -sighted.

Fast transformations in Done -aircraft technology The emergence of fast anti -drones may make today. Moreover, there is no guarantee that drones will play the same role in the future. Analysts say that waiting before millions comes out is the best choice for Western armies.

Done -aircraft technology moves quickly

The front lines soldiers and western companies who have equipment in Ukraine noticed this Soon the drone technology becomes valuable It also strikes new anti -technology in the battlefield.

Mauro Jelly, a researcher in military technology in Eth Zurich, said a drone can be easily neutralized by enemy forces with little value.

Driver technology risks its production soon from leaving armies with equipment stocks that quickly lose value with the development of technology and anti -measures. Time rejuvenation often creates more problems than starting.

Jelly explained that the problems are “following, then you end up with more problems than if you had waited and created something of scratch.”

Ulrick Franki, a drone expert at the European Council for Foreign Relations, said, Western armies Ukraine copies may be seduced by storing drones, but warned that drones are different from traditional weapons, noting that their benefit can disappear almost overnight.

“The drones require a different approach,” she said.

Quick innovations mean that “if European countries had bought about 100,000 drones in 2023 – an approach that seemed reasonable at the time – it is very likely that these systems will now be largely useless.”

War experts say that priority does not come out of drones now, but rather build the ability to expand quickly if the conflict demands this.

In fact, this is still the main challenge of the West. Western defense industries The face is a lack of equipment and Production accumulationAnd officials admitted to the output that needed to accelerate. In contrast, Russia has turned into a war, and China has sought its defensive manufacturing – including the production of drones.

Zakari Kalinborn, a drone expert at Kings College London, told Business Insider that there should be “focus:” well, what are the capabilities that we might need “and continue to innovate and learn lessons and make sure to make sure to expand if necessary, but in reality it seems too early.”

Analysts stress that learning from Ukraine means identifying lessons that should not be taken. In this case, storing millions of drones may not be the right call.

Learning from Ukraine

Ukraine’s war is not similar to the conflicts that Western forces Fight in recent decades. This is the high high grinding conflict that is characterized by the lack of air superiority, more than a million victims, new combat technology, and return from Trench war On a scale it is not seen in Europe since the global wars.

NATO armies are studying against Russia, but experts warn that they should avoid drawing wrong lessons.

Many Ukraine’s tactics have resulted from its deprived site: it has much fewer soldiers from Russia, and it has no large air weapon, and it has repeatedly suffered from a lack of western equipment.

Ukraine has turned into drones to fill the roles by snipers, air defense systems, aircraft, and other types of soldiers and weapons.

It is also one of the few weapons that Ukraine can produce locally, instead of relying on the already external stocks.

But many of these borders do not apply to NATO, with its large population, army, air force, and contracts for investments in advanced equipment and very capacity. There is a certain value in the cheap mass, but not at the expense of advanced combat systems. Various battles and missions come with different demands to a large extent.

Not all wars are the same. “Ukraine can also be a peak moment for drone,” said Frank. “The factors that made drones related to Ukraine may seem different in future wars.”

Done, but the West has other strengths

Analysts warn that although drones are essential in the Battle of Ukraine, they are not a substitute for the traditional military advantages of the West. Justin Bronk, a air power expert at the Royal United Services Institute, has recently argued that heavily dependent on drones will play with strengths in Russia. Moscow has more experience in integrating it, while NATO countries start a much lower base and lack Ukraine’s ability to expand production.

But perhaps most importantly, the drones do not win the war.

Bronk said that betrayal of UAS for killing is a dangerous strategy for NATO countries that Ukraine still takes severe losses and slowly lost Russian attacks despite being a world leader in the development, use and innovation of UAS military. “

He said that ultimately, the West is unlikely to be able to use drones against Russia in a manufacturing manner “by buying several dozens or even hundreds of thousands of similar drones and less practical experience.”

The drones were not a silver bullet in the battlefield. James Patton Rogers, a drone expert at the Cornell Brooks Institute of Technical Policy, told Business Insider. Ukraine produces millions of these things, but still pleads with artillery and long -term weapons. He said that drones “they should fight with. This is not what they want to fight with.”

This does not mean that the West can ignore drones. Enemies like Russia, China, Iran, and others are invested extensively, and NATO forces must be able to do so Confronting cheap combat systems and not available. The drone technology also provides the ability to provide a cheap block at a time when Western Zoratin is extended, but experts warn against seeing them as alternatives.

Frank warned that the assumption that small drones would control future wars may be “serious miscalculation.” Rogers added that the advanced armies should not lay all their eggs in a single drone basket at the expense of the most permanent, effective and usual weapons.

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