Estonian foreign intelligence: Russia building a massive drone army
Russian authorities have begun forming drone units across all branches and levels of the armed forces to carry out both combat and support tasks, Estonia's foreign intelligence service says.
Russia is establishing unmanned systems units across all services and branches and assigning them both combat and combat-support roles, in line with the "mass army" principle. The creation of a dedicated unmanned systems branch is almost certainly rooted in lessons learned from the war in Ukraine, which have demonstrated the growing military importance of unmanned platforms and their potential to shape the operational environment, the EFIS writes in its newly published yearbook.
Russia's ongoing military reform is expected to produce around 190 unmanned systems battalions, most of which will consist of UAV units operating within the Ground Forces, the Airborne Forces and the Naval Infantry.
In reference to Estonia's defense, the agency highlights that in the event of conflict, the state must be prepared to fight an adversary using a large number of unmanned systems at strategic, operational and tactical levels on land, in the air and at sea, simultaneously across Estonia's entire territory.
The Russian Navy is creating attack-oriented unmanned surface vessel (USV) units across all its fleets and the Caspian Flotilla. Within the Aerospace Forces, the GROM "Kaskad" UAV brigade is the only unit of its kind in Russia in terms of role and status.
The pace at which Russia establishes these unmanned systems units will depend on the duration and outcome of the war in Ukraine. However, unmanned systems are almost certainly a priority in Russia's armaments program.
In the Baltic Fleet, a regiment of unmanned naval strike vehicles has been formed, along with a UAV regiment under the direct command of the Leningrad Military District. These units are currently being staffed, armed and equipped, EFIS notes.
In the coming years, the Baltic Fleet is also likely to form a UAV regiment and UAV battalions are expected to be established in the divisions of the 6th Combined Arms Army. These units will augment Russia's existing intelligence, naval-strike, indirect-fire and precision-strike capabilities in Estonia's
immediate vicinity.
According to the foreign intellegence agency, Russia's defense industry and civilian sector are likely capable of supplying enough unmanned systems to equip the new units.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski
