The largest category of unmanned systems in the Russia–Ukraine war is aerial vehicles, and in 2025, we have seen some major cases of their highly effective use. Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb was one of the most prominent examples of FPV drones being used to destroy a significant number of Russia’s strategic fighter jets deep in the enemy’s rear.
This list of my previous articles on UAVs contains resources on FPV drones, medium-strike platforms, reconnaissance drones, fiber-optic drones, mothership (carrier) drones, and other types.
It does not include deep-strike systems, which are covered in a separate list: Deep Strike Capabilities.
Also, for more information on interceptor drones, check the list Air Defence and Counter-UAS.
Russians Alarmed by Ukraine’s Mysterious “Martian” Drone - April - May 2026 - link;
Ukraine Introduces Universal Ground Control Station for Fiber-Optic FPVs - April 2026 - link;
Hell’s Kitchen: Drone Munitions in Ukraine - April 2026 - link - *free;
Russian Drone Adaptions: Future Trends - March 2026 - link - *free;
Depth Ownership in Ukraine’s Drone Warfare - February 2026 - link;
“Baba Yaga” Drones in Ukraine: Key Trends - February 2026 - link - *free;
Mesh Networks on Russian Drones and Ways of Countering Them - February 2026 - link;
Russia’s Use of LTE Networks to Control FPV Drones - February 2026 - link;
Drone Warfare Lessons for NATO: The Hedgehog-2025 Exercise - February 2026 - link;
Is the Starlink Whitelist an Effective Solution? - February 2026 - link
Russia’s Gerbera Drones as FPV Carriers - February 2026 - link
Integration of Starlink Terminals into Russian Molniya UAVs - January 2026 - link - *free
Ukrainian Deftech Forecasts for 2026: Insights from Industry - January 2026 - link
Operation Spiderweb: WSJ reporting - January 2026 - link
Drone Warfare in Ukraine: Key Trends of 2025 - December 2025 - link - *free
What Solutions Do Frontline Drone Workshops Need? - December 2025 - link
Russia Tests SIM Cards for Drones in Kazakhstan and Türkiye: Molfar Intelligence Institute - December 2025 - link
Can Atreyd’s Drone Wall Protect Ukraine? - November, 2025 - link
Ukraine Starts Mass Production of Domestic Mavics - November 2025 - link - *free
Russia’s Rubikon: What Drives Its Success in Drone Warfare - November 2025 - link
How Ukraine is Developing “Middlestrike” Drones - October 2025 - link
(Un)Manned Warfare: 80% of Drone Success Depends on Pilot Skill - October 2025 - link - *free
“We Can Produce 150,000 FPVs per Month”: Ukrainian TAF Industries - October, 2025 - link - *free
“We Can Already Turn the Cheapest FPV into a Super-Smart Drone”: Sine.Engineering - October 2025 - link
Bayraktar TB2 Drones and Ukraine-Türkiye Strategic Defence Partnership - September 2025 - link - *free
How Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb Affected Russia’s Strategic Bomber Fleet - September 2025 - link
Quantum Systems and Recce-Strike in Ukraine’s Drone Warfare - September 2025 - link - *free
Technology Nobody Believed In (Fiber-Optic Drones) - August 2025 - external link (Defence Procurement International - pages 104-107) - *free
Ukraine and the Future of Drones: U.S. Interest in Ukrainian Systems - August 2025 - link - *free
Osa FPV Drones and Operation Spiderweb - August 2025 - link
RUSI Warns: Over-Reliance on Drones Won’t Win Future Battles - August 2025 - link
FPV Drone Localization in Ukraine - August 2025 - link - *free
Military Communications and Drones - August, 2025 - link - *free
Russia’s DAN’-M drones - July-August, 2025 - link
FPV Drone with Mortar Round: Innovation from Ukrainian Armor - July 2025 - link
Ukraine Scales Up Cheap Machine-Vision Drones - July 2025 - link
A First Point View: Examining Ukraine’s Drone Industry - July 2025 - link - *free
Laser Tech: The Ukrainian Armed Forces Now Have a Drone with Laser Target Designation - July 2025 - link
Russian Solar FPVs and Chernika Drones - June-July 2025 - link
How Will the Military Operate Without the Flagship Chinese Drone DJI Mavic 3 — and Where Are the Ukrainian Alternatives? - June 2025 - link
FPV Drone with Wings: How Unmanned Systems Forces Operate “Darts” Kamikaze Drones - June 2025 - link
Reforms of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces: Vision of Robert “Madyar” Brovdi - June 2025 - link - *free
“American drones turned out to be junk”: interview with the Russian drone producer - June 2025 - link
GOR: Top-Rated Reconnaissance Drone by Airlogix - June 2025 - link - *free
Drone warfare in Ukraine: operation Spiderweb - June 2025 - link - *free
Drone Carriers: A Look at Ukrainian and Russian Practices - May 2025 - link
Ukrainian FPV Drones with Machine Vision: Why Haven’t They Proven Themselves on the Battlefield Yet? - May 2025 - link - *free
“We go through the same procedures as our Ukrainian colleagues”: interview with the Managing Director of Quantum Systems operating in Ukraine - May 2025 - link
Fiber-Optic Drones: Challenges Faced by Ukrainian Manufacturers - May 2025 - link
The Drone Line project: what is it, and can five units stop the Russian advance? - April-May 2025 - link - *free
Ukraine’s Drone Ecosystem and the Defence of Europe: summary of the report - April 2025 - link - *free
Accuracy of Ukrainian and Russian fiber-optic drones - April 2025 - link - *free
The Vampire: a drone that terrifies Russians - April 2025 - link
Russia’s fiber-optic drone swarm control system Cerberus - April 2025 - link
Ukraine’s first fiber-optic ground robotic systems: advantages and challenges - April 2025 - link
Ukrainian drones are responsible for up to 75% of Moscow’s battlefield losses - April 2025 - link - *free
How the Ukrainian FPV Drone Workshop Operates on the Frontline - March 2025 - link - *free
Challenges for the Fiber-Optic Drone Production in Ukraine - March 2025 - link
Ukraine Will Procure All Domestically Produced FPV Drones: What’s Behind the Plan to Produce 4.5 Million UAVs? - March 2025 - link
An aerial drone capable of carrying other UAVs has been developed in Ukraine - March 2025 - link
UAS SETH – A New Ukrainian Kamikaze Drone - March 2025 - link
The development of the Ukrainian analog of the “Lancet” drone has been completed - February 2025 - link
Russia’s Primary Target: A Report from the Quantum Systems Drone Factory in Kyiv - February 2025 - link
Ukraine launches the revolutionary Drone Line project - February 2025 - link - *free
Fiber-optic drones: key developments on both sides - February 2025 - link
What is the undeniable advantage of Ukrainian reconnaissance UAVs Furiya? Interview with the developer- February 2025 - link
Don’t underestimate the importance of decoy drones: an interview with a Ukrainian aerial reconnaissance expert on Russian drone tactics - January 2025 - link - *free
Ukrainians Train on American Drone That Defeats Russian Jamming - January 2025 - link - *free
A weapon entirely immune to jamming: How Ukraine is rolling out production of fibre-optic drones - January 2025 - link - *free
Check other lists in the Topic Navigator.
Over time, the development of more accurate short- and medium-range anti-aircraft systems made the use of helicopters and aircraft for interdiction or close air support (CAS) more complex, which in turn made exploiting the air flank more difficult. This obstacle was overcome by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which easily exploit the air flank, are difficult to detect, and are inexpensive to build. However, they will not replace the soldier's boot or the tank's engine, which are essential for terrain control and movement deep into the enemy front.
Very much appreciated Olena 👍.