Russia has significantly increased production of its Geran-type unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and now Ukraine is having to adapt to the new conditions of combating these drones. According to ATO veteran and military expert Yevhen Dykyi, Russia is currently producing about 1,000 of these drones per month, which significantly exceeds its initial plans.
“They are constantly increasing the production and number of drones, while using various tactics to exhaust our air defense system (ADF),” Dykyi said in an interview with “Sergei Mamayev’s Special Projects.” One such tactic is the use of decoy drones, which, thanks to special mirrors, are clearly visible on radar, which allows them to distract air defense forces from the main threat.
This approach not only aims to create a shortage of missiles in air defense, but also leads to fatigue of the military who hunt these drones. Given this, Dykyi suggests focusing efforts on increasing the number of mobile groups capable of effectively responding to threats.
Civilians as part of defense
According to the expert, one of the possible answers to the new challenges is to involve the civilian population in the fight against drones. Ukraine has many reserved men who are physically healthy and fit for service. According to Dyky, they can be involved in protecting the sky by organizing mobile groups that could take turns performing combat duty.
“I don’t see a problem with students who have a deferment or people who are booked at work helping in the fight against the “Geraniums” in their free time,” the expert noted. He emphasized that this would relieve some of the burden on the air defense system that the military is currently experiencing.
Converting mobile groups into infantry
Dyky also drew attention to the problem of converting mobile fire groups into infantry units due to the lack of people at the front. This problem could be solved by using civilians to combat drones, which would allow the main forces to be preserved for other important tasks at the front.
“We can deploy significantly more mobile groups than we have now, and this will help strengthen the country's defense,” the expert concluded.
