Ukraine launches unique drone reconnaissance system
How Hawk's Eyes harms Russia
The Ukrainian Armed Forces use both small commercial drones and large drones capable of hovering in the sky for tens of hours on the front line.
The Ukrainian military from the “Eyes of the Hawk” unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is the first formation to use all available intelligence means at the front, which have been combined into a single system. The unit’s commander, Andriy Sukhin, said this in an interview with Ukrainian Radio on July 17.
According to the military, Hawk Eyes uses a range of aerial reconnaissance equipment in combat. These can be ground-based cameras and miniature commercial drones, as well as large drones that can stay in the air for several tens of hours.
The military systematizes all the information received from the drones and checks it against satellite data. This allows the soldiers to spot the enemy much earlier than they have time to react. In addition, such a comprehensive intelligence system helps Hawk Eyes save the lives of scouts who use unmanned aerial vehicles for sorties.
“We were walking on our feet, so I felt firsthand what it was like to send people to scout and find out the situation, and what it was like to just send a drone. I felt the adequate price of human life,” the fighter with the call sign “Mamay” told reporters.
This is confirmed by the commander of a separate platoon of tactical unmanned aerial systems with the call sign “Tsvyakh”. The military acknowledged that unmanned aerial vehicles in war are often disposable and expendable. During active combat operations, a unit may lose two copters a day. The most common reasons for drones to fail are destruction by the enemy or landing in occupied territory.
“If we put human life and copters in contrast, we will choose complexes, because it is material and can be restored,” the commander said.
