Russian Media: How to Counter Drone Swarm Tactics?

Reference News Network reported on June 3 According to the Russian newspaper on May 29, the so-called drone swarm refers to a group of drones that operate as a connected system, autonomously dividing tasks and exchanging data, maintaining controllability even in the event of partial losses.

Ukraine is now deploying a large number of drones in combat every day. Experts believe that in the next phase, Ukraine will deploy autonomous drone swarms equipped with military artificial intelligence, which can operate collaboratively without constant control from an operator.

In fact, this marks the emergence of a new type of weapon of mass destruction. The trouble for Russia lies not only in the number of these drones but also in the fact that Ukraine's drone systems are backed by NATO's technology and computing power. Currently, artificial intelligence can help drones bypass multi-layered air defense systems, analyze flight paths, identify weak points, and strike logistics, airports, and infrastructure.

The focus of the next phase will be on joint air-ground drone swarms. Hundreds of drones will be able to work together to perform tasks such as reconnaissance, relay, strike, and target pursuit. In the face of this attack architecture, traditional electronic warfare methods are no longer a universal solution; only by using artificial intelligence can one counter the enemy.

The current question is no longer whether drone swarms will appear, but rather when they will engage in large-scale combat and how Russia is preparing for this—decisions on whether to destroy targets in this type of warfare are no longer made by humans, but by algorithms.

Russian military expert Alexey Zakharov said: “The question is no longer whether Ukraine will increase its use of drones against Russia, but how quickly Ukraine will transition to using drone swarms controlled simultaneously by one operator or a small team.”

Zakharov believes: “In the next year, Ukraine will not launch a sci-fi style ‘autonomous drone swarm.’ Ukraine's backers do not yet possess the advanced technology to deploy such drone swarms on a large scale. However, this does not mean that the world's major manufacturers of such systems will remain uninvolved and unprepared to test in Ukraine.”

He pointed out that the likelihood of another scenario occurring is much higher, namely that semi-autonomous drone swarms will gradually flood the battlefield. This transitional solution poses the most realistic threat to Russia. It is cheaper, quicker to deploy, and more in line with the characteristics of current warfare.

Compared to large-scale drone attacks, the form of drone swarms is more complex, consisting of hundreds or even thousands of drones that act as a connected system.

Ukraine has already laid a solid institutional foundation for this. The Ukrainian military has formed drone system units responsible for operating aerial, ground, surface, and underwater unmanned systems.

In April this year, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced the development of the “A1” National Defense Artificial Intelligence Center. In military logic, artificial intelligence is used to perform very practical tasks: helping drones fly without Global Positioning System (GPS), countering electronic warfare measures, and improving the efficiency of weapon use.

Without complex algorithms and computing power, drone swarms would not be able to take off. However, deploying mobile data centers closer to the front lines is something that can be achieved in the near future. The Pentagon is already researching this direction. It is not hard to guess where the U.S. will conduct real-world tests of mobile data centers.

From a military perspective, the danger of drone swarms lies not only in their numbers; their advantage is overwhelming the enemy's defensive measures. It is not cost-effective for air defense systems to intercept cheap targets. While electronic warfare measures can disrupt control of drones, they do not always destroy them. If a drone swarm attacks from different directions, with some responsible for reconnaissance, some for diversion, and some for striking targets, the defending side faces not individual drones, but a systematic drone threat.

However, there is no need to panic; drone swarms also have weaknesses. Drone swarms require communication, navigation, computation, precise target identification, and stable logistical support. Ways to weaken them include not only destroying drones but also disrupting communication links, suppressing control channels, destroying relays, setting up decoys, camouflage, and dispersing weaponry. The defending side must adopt various methods to counter them, such as using electronic warfare measures, low-cost kinetic interception, physical cover, protective nets, concealment, decoys, and constantly changing combat procedures.

This is precisely the problem that Russia has been focusing on recently: how to enable a drone swarm that integrates autonomous electronic warfare, interception, and strike capabilities to successfully counter another drone swarm. Of course, this requires personnel who are trained and capable of operating these systems. (Translated by Li Ran)