July 2024

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Highlights

• Atmospherics:
  • Drone warfare is no longer a bespoke solution to Russian and Ukrainian deficiencies
    in airpower and artillery. It has evolved into a key front in an attritional war in which
    both camps are husbanding their limited reserves of men and materiel and looking for
    a force-multiplying advantage. Perhaps the most evident proof of this transformation
    is the ever-broadening “drone shadow” on either side of the zero line.
• Emerging Tech:
  • The Russians apparently used a new type of kamikaze drone in an attack on Kyiv last
    week.
  • This novel drone was reportedly equipped with a SIM card compatible with Ukraine’s
    Kyivstar cellular network.
  • Ukrainian OSINT reports the Russian use of helium balloons as static radio signal and
    datalink re-transmission platforms.
  • A Ukrainian 3D-printing manufacturer of composite and plastic products named
    “Nayavu” is producing a line of mounts for releasing munitions from DJI Mavic
    drones.
• Battlefield Trends:
  • According to OSINT data, Ukraine’s military has lost some 47 helicopters destroyed
    since the February 2022 full-scale invasion.
  • Russian Telegram users have criticized a proposed new order to ban the use of
    personal electronic devices on the front lines.
  • The use of Signal and other messaging apps has likewise been integral to Ukrainian
    combat operations. Ukrainian special operations forces have used smartphone apps as
    a means of communicating with covert forces operating within Russian-occupied
    territory, as well as within the Russian Federation.