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Technology

Drone versus drone combat is bringing a new kind of warfare to Ukraine

Machines are fighting machines on the Ukrainian battlefield, as a technological arms race has given birth to a new way to wage war

By David Hambling

2 October 2024

A Ukrainian drone operator with a first-person-view kamikaze drone

Andriy Andriyenko/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

As both sides of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war attempt to claim technological supremacy, drone versus drone combat has become routine – and thanks to the ubiquity of cameras, this new kind of warfare is being documented in real time across air, land and sea.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has already been dubbed the “first drone war”, with some sources suggesting that small drones are inflicting as much as 80 per cent of the damage to military hardware and personnel. Now, the war has evolved, with machines fighting…

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