The Drone Revolution - Lessons from the Russia-Ukraine War and the Future of Warfare
- Jason White, GUS CEO
- Mar 4
- 7 min read
With all of the recent focus on the Russia/Ukraine conflict, it is important to understand how drone warfare demonstrated there has changed the battlespace, and with the conflict hopefully coming to an end soon, those skills, tools, and lessons learned are going to be brought home and elsewhere. That is, people have learned a new way to fight, and it is going to be plied somewhere; here are the lessons learned and what needs to be understood.
The Russia/Ukraine war has thrust drone warfare into the spotlight, revealing a profound shift in how battles are fought. Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), or drones, have become ubiquitous on the battlefield, evolving from niche tools to indispensable assets that dominate the air/ground littoral region—the airspace just above the ground, typically up to 2,000 feet. As Dr. James Greer, a retired U.S. Army colonel and expert in military strategy, has noted, this conflict marks a transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional warfare, where the proliferation of drones has saturated the battlefield with sensors and shifted combat dynamics from "few vs. few" to "many vs. many" engagements (Greer, personal communication, cited in various lectures and writings). This article delves into how drones have redefined the battlespace in Ukraine and outlines critical lessons that militaries worldwide must grasp as this technology spreads.
The Air/Ground Littoral: A New Arena of Conflict
The Russia/Ukraine war has made it clear: hostile air/ground littoral region UAS threats are growing more sophisticated and frequent on the battlefield. In Ukraine, this low-altitude zone has become a hotbed of drone activity, with both sides deploying thousands of UAS for reconnaissance, targeting, strikes, and even logistics. According to a December 2023 article in ARMY AVIATION Magazine, small UAS (sUAS) have transformed the front lines along an 800-mile line of contact, where they are used "everywhere" for everything from spotting enemy positions to guiding artillery fire (Rainey & Greer, 2023). Unlike traditional air campaigns fought at high altitudes, this littoral region is where drones—ranging from military-grade systems to modified commercial quadcopters—clash with ground forces and each other, creating a chaotic, transparent battlefield.
This saturation of drones has eroded the ability to conceal movements, forcing rapid tactical shifts. As Greer has emphasized, the battlefield’s transparency means "protection is the most important warfighting function," a lesson underscored by Ukraine’s extensive use of drones to expose and strike Russian positions (Greer, cited in Land Warfare and the Air-Ground Littoral). The result is a battlespace where situational awareness is both a weapon and a vulnerability, reshaping how forces operate.
A Rapid Cycle of Innovation
The conflict has sparked an unprecedented technological arms race in drone warfare. Ukraine, in particular, has showcased remarkable adaptability, leveraging a decentralized, crowdsourced approach to field a diverse drone fleet. Civilians and small businesses have modified commercial drones for military use, enabling rapid deployment of UAS for reconnaissance and direct attacks since Russia’s initial invasion in 2014, with an "explosive proliferation" following the full-scale assault in 2022 (ARMY AVIATION Magazine, Dec. 31, 2023). Meanwhile, Russia has relied on mass-produced drones like the Lancet and Shahed-136, targeting Ukrainian infrastructure with devastating effect (Council on Foreign Relations, 2023).
This fast-paced innovation extends to countermeasures. Electronic warfare (EW) has become a cornerstone of drone operations, with both sides deploying jammers and spoofers to neutralize enemy UAS. A report from the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) notes that while drones have not revolutionized warfare, their evolution in Ukraine—including counter-drone tactics—has pushed militaries to adapt quickly (CNAS, 2023). Greer’s insight that "combat always changes" rings true here, as each advancement in drone technology prompts an immediate counter-response, driving a relentless cycle of adaptation.
Electronic Warfare: The Invisible Shield
In this new era of drone-dominated warfare, electronic warfare stands out as a critical enabler. Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have leaned heavily on EW to disrupt drone communications and navigation, making it a decisive factor in controlling the air/ground littoral. Russia’s sophisticated EW systems have degraded Ukrainian drone precision, while Ukraine has countered with innovative jamming techniques of its own (Arms Control Association, 2023). Greer has highlighted EW’s role in protection, stating that winning this invisible fight is essential to safeguarding forces from the relentless drone threat (Greer, cited in vertex-agl-article.pdf).
Yet, as drones grow more autonomous and resistant to interference, the EW landscape is evolving too. The conflict has demonstrated that future militaries must invest in advanced counter-drone technologies—such as lasers and AI-driven systems—to stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated UAS threats.
Integration and Complexity
Beyond their standalone capabilities, drones in Ukraine have been woven into broader military strategies, amplifying their impact. They guide artillery strikes, assess battle damage, and even replace manned aircraft in close air support roles, functioning as part of a "system of systems" (vertex-agl-article.pdf, Rainey & Greer). This integration, however, strains traditional command structures. Greer has pointed out that military staffs "are not designed" to manage the complexity of three-dimensional warfare, necessitating new processes and technologies like AI to handle the deluge of data from drone operations (Greer, personal communication).
The Modern War Institute at West Point notes that drones have expanded the information environment in Ukraine, providing real-time intelligence that enhances battlefield decision-making (Modern War Institute, 2023). This seamless integration underscores a key lesson: drones are most effective when paired with other systems, a principle that will shape military doctrines globally. Civilian Contributions and Ethical Challenges
An unexpected facet of Ukraine’s drone war has been the role of civilians. The widespread use of commercial UAS has enabled volunteers to contribute directly to the war effort, from building drones to operating them on the front lines (European Council on Foreign Relations, 2023). While this "democratization" of warfare has bolstered Ukraine’s resilience, it also blurs the lines between combatants and non-combatants, raising ethical and strategic concerns for future conflicts. Lessons for the Future As the Russia/Ukraine conflict winds down, its lessons on drone warfare will reverberate worldwide. Several takeaways stand out:
Ubiquity of Drones: UAS are now a permanent fixture in warfare, with their versatility proven across multiple roles (PBS NewsHour, 2023).
Primacy of EW: Effective electronic warfare is non-negotiable for both employing and countering drones (New Scientist, 2023).
Need for Integration: Drones must be embedded into broader military frameworks to maximize their potential (vertex-ag1-article.pdf).
Adaptability: Rapid innovation and scalability are essential to keep pace with evolving threats (New Strategy Center, 2023).
Civilian Roles: The involvement of non-military actors requires careful management to mitigate risks (ECFR, 2023).
These insights, forged in the crucible of Ukraine’s battlefields, signal a future where drone warfare will define military success. As the U.S. Army and others study this conflict, they are already incorporating these lessons into training and technology development (NBC News, 2023), ensuring that the skills honed in Ukraine will shape conflicts elsewhere.
Galaxy’s Constellation Concept: A Technical Framework for Modern Warfare
Galaxy’s Constellation Concept, conceived and refined in the years preceding the Russia-Ukraine conflict, exemplifies a sophisticated integration of persistent, mobile airborne platforms—advanced airships functioning as motherships—with the capacity to deploy and manage expansive swarms of drones, thereby addressing the operational deficiencies inherent in traditional unmanned aerial systems (UAS), such as limited endurance, constrained range, and dependence on static ground control infrastructures. These airships, engineered for extended loiter times and equipped with marsupial deployment mechanisms, facilitate the rapid, scalable release of UAS assets, enabling a dynamic shift from centralized, ground-dependent operations to a distributed, aerially sustained network capable of delivering massed robotic effects across the battlespace.
Analogous to the C-130 Gunship’s role in providing persistent fire support, these platforms orchestrate overwhelming drone-based firepower, complementing traditional fighter forces tasked with maintaining air superiority, while simultaneously supporting ground operations through real-time intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) feeds and coordinated attack profiles. That is, the Constellation Concept redefines the air-ground interface, transforming static UAS limitations into a resilient, adaptive system that ensures dominance in the contested air-ground littoral zone.
The operational imperatives revealed by the Ukraine conflict—where the proliferation of small UAS has reshaped tactical engagements along an 800-mile front—underscore the prescience of Galaxy’s approach, as the integration of persistent airborne logistics and command-and-control (C2) networks aligns seamlessly with the evolving demands of three-dimensional warfare, a paradigm articulated by Dr. James Greer in his examination of modern combined arms operations. By employing airships as standoff motherships, the Constellation Concept bridges the communication gaps and latency issues plaguing ground-to-air coordination, leveraging robust C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) frameworks to synchronize drone swarms with ground maneuver units, thereby enhancing battlefield awareness and responsiveness in dynamic, high-threat environments. This system not only mitigates the risks posed by surface-to-air threats, which have rendered traditional manned aviation precarious, but also anticipates the future trajectory of multi-domain operations, where the interplay of autonomous systems, persistent logistics, and real-time data fusion dictates strategic outcomes. In essence, Galaxy’s technical framework positions it at the forefront of a transformative shift, offering a scalable solution to the complexities of modern warfare, where adaptability and integration are paramount.
