Ukraine Pushes Fires, EW and Air Defense Down to Squads as 600 Daily Drone Attacks Reshape War
Updated
Updated · smallwarsjournal · May 21
Ukraine Pushes Fires, EW and Air Defense Down to Squads as 600 Daily Drone Attacks Reshape War
1 articles · Updated · smallwarsjournal · May 21
Ukrainian units now handle fires, electronic warfare and counter-drone defense at battalion, platoon and squad level, turning small units into self-sufficient kill chains rather than consumers of higher-echelon support.
Cheap, modifiable drones, jammers and detectors drove that shift as constant surveillance, GPS disruption and artillery pressure made centralized control too slow for a battlefield where movement is exposed.
Drone warfare sits at the center of the change: Ukraine attributes 60%–70% of Russian equipment losses to drones, and frontline troops routinely use organic FPV and reconnaissance systems before moving or striking.
Electronic warfare and air defense have followed the same pattern, with vehicle-mounted jammers, squad-level drone detectors and mobile fire teams using pickup trucks and machine guns to counter more than 600 drone attacks a day.
The article argues the U.S. Army remains comparatively centralized despite reforms, warning that training and culture must adapt for contested environments where lower echelons cannot assume air or spectrum superiority.
As drone swarms and AI redefine combat, are traditional military hierarchies and expensive weapons platforms now obsolete?
How can the U.S. military's bureaucracy adopt the rapid, bottom-up innovation that has become Ukraine's greatest battlefield advantage?
With both sides reliant on Chinese parts, could Beijing's supply chain control ultimately decide the drone war in Ukraine?