"Krone" commentary

The sky full of drones

Analyzed for the "Krone": foreign policy expert Kurt Seinitz

(Bild: stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

If there is a lesson to be learned from the war in Ukraine, it is that it has become a turning point in a completely new type of warfare, both in attack and defense. Videos on the internet from the theater of war show the large-scale use of combat drones, so-called self-destructing kamikaze drones, on both sides.

The consequences of this: The constant threat from the sky above the battlefield paralyzes any movement upwards without cover; trenches turn into tunnels, soldiers into cavemen; and the most serious: formerly modern war equipment such as tanks or artillery loses importance. These expensive types of weapons, worth millions, are tracked down and shot down by cheap drones worth 400 euros, for example from Iranian or Turkish or even Ukrainian production. This allows entire swarms of drones to be used - as flying explosives, so to speak. Grotesque side effect: in Ukraine, tanks have lattice constructions on top for defense.

Anyone who does not accept the revolution in warfare does not have the slightest chance of defense - see: Azerbaijan's blitzkrieg against Armenia. This also raises the question of why the armed forces have not already been equipped with combat drones. This lack makes national defense obsolete, just as the missile ban in the State Treaty did back then.