Defense News assesses the usefulness of dragon drones for the AFU

The Ukrainian military has begun using drones with termite spraying capabilities at the front. However, they are capable of more than that.

This was reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to Defense News.

As noted in Defense News, these drones not only ‘burn out’ the enemy. They are also capable of shooting in the first person and observing the positions of the Russians.

At the same time, experts believe that such drones can only be used under certain circumstances and have a dual purpose: they are both a cheap way to expose enemy positions and a means of instilling fear in the occupying forces.

‘The primary use of these termite UAVs is as a defoliator to destroy trees and foliage that Russian troops and equipment use to hide in forested areas; and secondly, they are likely intended as a psychological weapon due to the nature of the termite's effects on skin contact,’ said Justin Bronk, a senior researcher at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

At the same time, the high temperature of the mixture can damage or destroy caches of equipment and ammunition in a single sortie.

‘They can be used for specific purposes for which explosive effects are not ideal, and can be useful for burning abandoned vehicles, for example, preserving explosive warheads for missions that require kinetic effects,’ said Federico Borsari, a research fellow at the US Centre for European Policy Analysis.

Both experts noted that drones are a suitable drone option for delivering incendiary mixtures at slow speeds due to their low cost and precise manoeuvrability.

However, the danger of using thermite is the possibility of uncontrolled fires that could burn civilian infrastructure and non-military objects. The use of termite munitions is not prohibited, but it is not easy, experts say.

‘It would be legitimate and legal to use them as defoliants to remove cover, and this would only apply if they a) hit civilians or b) there is a significant risk that further fire would endanger civilians - compare this to Russia's indiscriminate use of thermite munitions last year,’ said Matthew Saville, Director of Military Science at RUSI.

Author - Olena Madiak, 21/09/2024