The Unmanned Systems Forces Commanders

As a senior lieutenant, Vadym Sukharevskiy participated in the first battle in 2014, firing a machine gun at Igor Girkin’s militants. Over time, he commanded the 59th Separate Motorized Brigade and eventually was named the first commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces, which was formed in February 2024 . He was 39 at the time, an example of the new generation of officers. But even one of his supporters said that the precious first year of the Unmanned Systems Forces was wasted. He never integrated with the commanders of the front line drone units, and the deep-attack units developed their program independently, leaving him with the search for interceptor solutions for the Shahed drones. He was fired in April 2025.

With only four years of service, Robert Brovdi was named to replace him. His communication and management skills made an immediate impact as he asked superiors and subordinates alike what they needed from him. Once he had their requests, he established a plan that was constantly refined with feedback from all parties. Brovdi has the confidence of both the drone unit commanders and the general staff, a rare feat.

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Mykhailo Drapatyi

When Drapatyi was appointed as commander of the Ground Forces, he was still commander of the Operational Strategic Group “Khortytsia”, which was responsible for the front from Kharkiv to Komar. He had one staff to work on issues such as mobilization, training, technological development, reorganization and other army-wide issues. He had another staff to manage the most active front in the war.

There were already too many units assigned to “Khortytsia” to effectively manage the battle. That was the reason for the transition to a corps-brigade organizational structure. As Commander of the Ground Forces, he would also have to deal with all administrative and strategic level issues which was itself a full-time job and one that can only be achieved with a competent and responsive staff. When people moved too slowly, he would do a deep dive into the issue to resolve it quickly, but that came at the expense of oversight on other issues.

He didn’t have enough individuals that could accomplish the tasks he delegated, and he could not handle all the tasks himself. On top of that, Syrsky would continue to micromanage and interfere with every aspect of the army and Drapatyi had to deal with his resistance to change.

After his resignation, Drapatyi returned to commanding the “Khortytsia” front and is working to resolve the challenges of the Corps-Brigade reorganization. Gennady Shapovalov was appointed to replace him a month ago and published vague priorities, such as troop generation, improved combat training and the development of forces. A member of the General Staff described him as “a good performer who will not ask unnecessary questions.”

That’s the kind of troops generals love the most: those not asking any kind of ‘unnecessary questions’. What a surprise: now everybody in the GenStab-U is relieved…

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Equipment

Ukraine has a new drone interceptor with a jet engine that can reach speeds of 300 kph at altitudes of 5,000 meters and a range of 12 km. It wouldn’t be able to catch the Shahed jet drones that have a speed of 500 kph, but it has thermal guidance that can detect drones at 800 meters and auto-guide at 150-200 meters. Once there, it uses a multi-barrel shotgun to disable the engine and then returns to refuel and reload. It could be expected to shoot down 10-12 drones in its lifetime. One of the reasons why the engineers created a reusable drone is that 200k would be needed each year, and Ukraine currently doesn’t have the capacity to create 200k interceptor drones. The engineer is convinced that 5-7k reusable drones that can shoot down 10-12 drones would be the equivalent of 200k kamikaze drones. (For those numbers to work, the kamikaze drone would be presumed to have a kill rate of 25-42%). In any case, it’s good to try different approaches in an emerging field to see what works.

Ukraine now produces a thermal imaging camera that outperforms the Chinese cameras.

Another interceptor is made with 85% locally produced parts and the goal is to reach 100% in the coming months. It is not a reusable drone if it hits but if it misses it can return and be reused. The developers are working on a fully automated homing system as an upgrade to homing after a target is selected. This would turn the drone into a “fire and forget” weapon and allow the operator to manage more drone launches. Remote drone operation is also being developed which would allow an operator to run three different stations, with each station capable of launching five drones.

The AHS Krab is a Polish self-propelled 155 mm howitzer with a South Korean K9 chassis and a UK BAE AS-90 turret and barrels that are produced domestically. The Krabs donated to Ukraine used to be returned to Poland for repairs but are now repaired in Ukraine, saving time and money. Poland is planning to produce the barrels in Ukraine now. Poland is also considering loaning Ukraine €120 million to buy Polish weapons.

Raytheon doubled the production and can build 1,200 AIM-120 missiles a year now. F-16s and NASAMS air defense batteries can use them to shoot down aircraft and missiles in Ukraine, and they can be fired from other aircraft, as well. Last year, Raytheon was given $1.2 billion by the US to build AIM-120 missiles by 2030. This year they received a $3.5 billion contract to build missiles for 19 nations, including Ukraine, by 2034. The number of missiles bought wasn’t disclosed, neither was the number that will be sent to Ukraine, but they cost about $1 million each.

A heavily damaged radar for the Patriot system was returned to Germany and Raytheon said it was beyond repair, so they should buy another, provided the sale would be approved by Trump. So Germany repaired it and returned it back to Ukraine, where it was used successfully.

The Russian Lancet drone has been equipped with a PTM-3 anti-tank mine. The PTM-3 weighs 4.9 kg with a 1.8 kg warhead. The standard Lancet warhead weighed 3 kg with a 1.5 kg warhead.

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An important part of intercepting Russia’s drones and missiles is detecting them. Radar is a primary tool in this process but they can be jammed or masked by terrain, and when they are used they give their position away, making it easier to avoid them. To cover the gaps in radar coverage, Ukraine started to develop two acoustic sensor systems that can differentiate between the sounds that different drones and cruise missiles make from other noise. At this point, the Zvook system covers 5% of the country while the Sky Fortress system has 14,000 sensors around the company, each costing between $400-1000. 15,000 more third generation sensors will be deployed.

“Zvook” (Ukrainian for “sound”) was the first project. It was deployed in early 2022 when a lot of Ukrainian radars were destroyed by Russia. The sensors were deployed on the border entry points as a first alert system for any drones or missiles that were not detected on radar.

Sky Fortress began working on the project in 2022 to track cruise missiles. It really started to show its worth when drones began to appear at the end of the year. In its first iteration, Sky Fortress used cell phones as CPU processors to accelerate development, which was quicker than building specialized sensors from scratch. They are now on their third generation of their system and all the hardware is customized for the task. Today, 20% of the drones are tracked by acoustic data alone. Russia tried to alter the noise signature of the drones but resulted in only a 3% drop in the system’s accuracy.

A machine gun team engages a drone in February. Even though drones now fly at altitudes higher than the range of machine guns, Ukraine claims that machine gun teams shoot down 40% of the targets they engage. For that to happen, they have to be close to where the target is so they can engage the drone when it dives, and that requires early warning. Zvook sensors are placed on radio towers in locations where radars would be destroyed.

The acoustic data is combined with the radar data and is then sent out to mobile teams with anti-aircraft guns. Since machine gun teams have to be within 2000 meters of a target to hit incoming drones, it is important to give them good data quickly. It also helps the anti-aircraft cannon teams that have longer ranges. During one attack, 80 out of 84 drones were detected by acoustic systems. The system has been demonstrated in Germany and is being tested in Romania.

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Training with the 425th Skala Assault Regiment

Most units have a low opinion of the training the Ukrainian army provides new recruits. The training of personnel in the 225th Assault Regiment was briefly discussed two weeks ago.

The 425th Regiment maintains that not only is Ukraine’s Basic Combined Arms Training (BZVP) insufficient, such as not knowing how to disassemble a rifle to clean it, the training course also trains them incorrectly and the recruits have be re-taught basic concepts, such as how to hold a rifle. Like the 225th, the 425th holds a month-long training course to make sure they have the skills to survive in combat.

Recruits say that half the time in BZVP was spent standing in formations, setting up tents, and sitting in the classroom instead of learning warfighting skills. At the 425th’s training center, they start every morning with physical exercise and shoot anywhere from 200-500 rounds a day, in different conditions, so they are comfortable with the weapon and know how to use it. They also familiarize themselves with machine guns, rocket grenade launchers and hand grenades by firing or throwing them so they won’t fear using them in combat.

They conduct live fire exercises in assaults on houses or basements, learning how to enter, use grenades and move as a team without shooting each other. The first few times through, they use airsoft munitions. When they demonstrate a minimum level of competence they conduct the exercise again using live ammo. They learn how to mount and dismount vehicles and assault houses directly from the vehicle with live ammo.

(Top left) Part of the daily training routine is physical training and (top right) drone awareness and reaction training at any time during training. (Bottom left) After training with airsoft guns they use live fire during certain exercises. (Bottom right) First aid skills are taught and practiced almost every day.

They learn first aid for themselves and their teammates, and how to carry the wounded. Every day they conduct another first aid training session. When the first aid instructor was asked to rate the level of training they had after arriving from other training centers, she gave them a three out of ten rating. When new recruits arrive, new medics arrive to train them. These recruits will be assigned to the same unit as the medic that is training them. Relationships are built and they will fight together.

And every day, dozens of drones are used in training, either to be shot down on a range or how to react to them if they are dropping munitions. Flash munitions are dropped on them at various points in their training, whether on the obstacle course or when they’re learning how to move in or assault a trench.

At the end of the month of training the soldiers are evaluated. If they do not have the capabilities to perform the tasks then they are not assigned to a combat position because the regiment believes they would only end up with a dead soldier.

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12th Special Purpose Brigade “Azov” CMC Course

The Combat Medic/Corpsman (CMC) training is the most advanced level of tactical medicine training for brigade members. In this video, medics assigned to the International Battalion of the brigade come from varied backgrounds ranging from combat corpsman to nurses to paramedics. They all undergo this training to make sure they can provide a certain standard of medical care and that they can do so in combat conditions.

In many police forces in the US, the first priority in shooting situations is to stop the killing. Once the threat is neutralized, the second priority is to stop the dying and aid any victims. Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) protocols establish priorities in combat.

In high danger situations, the medic returns fire and takes cover and the casualty can do the same. In the next lower level of danger, the casualty can be directed to cover, or dragged to cover and apply self-aid while the medic continues to fight. After that, the focus is to prevent the casualty from suffering additional wounds. The priority of danger is to remove a casualty from a burning vehicle or building followed by stopping external hemorrhaging. Only then is airway management undertaken.

Other issues have to be considered in combat. They must make sure they have a safe perimeter. They have to determine how many casualties they have, and if they have more than one, they have to determine who they need to help first. Weapons, ammo and radios of the victim have to be safely secured. And for their own safety, they must wear gloves. CMC qualified personnel provide a higher level of care than the average medic.

Medical staff often practice on themselves or others. Besides other needlework, they practiced drawing blood from each other into blood bags and then transfusing a medic’s own blood back into him or her. Blood transfusions are one of the best treatments for shock and medics cannot be afraid of the procedure.

There were many practical simulations throughout the course to build muscle memory. The final test was in a darkened room containing people with simulated wounds with flashing lights, screaming and occasional wafting smoke to provide some level of distraction and stress that is common on the front lines. Students of this course were deployed into combat soon after completion of the classes.

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This text is published with the permission of the author. First published here.