How drones dogfight above Ukraine

DURING THE first world war, fighter pilots duelled with pistols and rifles. Today, in the skies over Ukraine, a new type of dogfight is taking place—between drones. In October a video emerged on social media showing a Ukrainian drone ramming a Russian one, causing the latter to crash. It was the first known wartime duel between drones. Since then, Ukrainian forces have shared more videos of drone-on-drone attacks. Russian drones are also attacking Ukrainian ones (though information about those is scarcer). How do drones dogfight, and what impact might this have on aerial warfare?

Both Russia and Ukraine make extensive use of drones for intelligence gathering, reconnaissance and guiding artillery fire. Russia has carried out repeated strikes on Ukraine’s power grid, often using Shahed-136 loitering munitions supplied by Iran. But large military drones of this kind are outnumbered by small, cheap consumer models, known as quadcopters—some of which have themselves become improvised bombers. Downing enemy drones is essential, but can be tricky. Supplies of the kit used to jam signals from the drone’s operator are limited and jammers are often turned off to allow friendly drones to function. Small drones are hard to spot and harder to shoot. Blasting them out of the air is expensive too: a single missile from a Patriot or NASAMS air-defence system can cost $1m or more. Dogfighting with drones provides an alternative mode of attack that costs a few thousands dollars a pop.