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I’m a little surprised that drones in Ukraine haven’t been discussed widely on HN. Ukraine doesn’t have the air force, pilots are expensive and take a lot of ti

I’m a little surprised that drones in Ukraine haven’t been discussed widely on HN. Ukraine doesn’t have the air force, pilots are expensive and take a lot of time of to train Here are a few interesting stories that I saw over the past couple of months https://www.reuters.com/world/us-rapidly-developed-ghost-drones-ukraine-pentagon-says-2022-04-21/ https://www.reuters.com/world/us-rapidly-developed-ghost-dro... https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-technology-business-europe-47dfea7579cedfe65a70296eb0188212 https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-technology-bu... https://www.popsci.com/aviation/black-hawk-helicopter-first-autonomous-flight/ https://www.popsci.com/aviation/black-hawk-helicopter-first-... https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/24/ukraine-war-drones/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/24/ukraine-war-... Super cheap drones could make a difference too: https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-cheap-drones https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-cheap-drones Something super simple with GPS for reconnaissance, for example

thriftwy 4y ago
Ukraine did have some air force even in 2014 where its army was barely functioning, and it surely has air force now. What's left of it at this stage. Ukraine is a large country.
atlasunshrugged 4y ago
Ukraine absolutely has an airforce. According to a recent CNN article, "In early March, about two weeks into the war, the defense official said Ukraine has 56 fighter aircraft, which composed about 80% of its fixed-wing fighters" https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/20/politics/ukraine-aircraft-spare-parts/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/20/politics/ukraine-aircraft-spa...
- 01100011 4y ago
  The UkAF literally bombed Snake Island the other day. They definitely have an air force.
  - melling 4y ago
    Yes, I guess I wasn’t explicit enough and now we’re having a silly discussion about a few dozen Ukrainian planes. The entire point was… anyway… I’ll be more explicit next time so we don’t run into the weeds and waste everyone’s time and get right to the issue
    - 01100011 4y ago
      It's the internet. So many people just looking to argue...
- jollybean 4y ago
  They are not flying a lot of missions. It was down to a few sorties a day. Neither Air Force is spending a lot of time in hotly contested territory. I suggest UKR AF is really just patrolling within the territory they control as a deterrent to Russian AF. But neither spending a lot of time directly in each other's turf. A bit sad UKR doesn't have better AA because Russia is flying a lot more sorties on their lines than they should be able to get away with. They are a bit too fast for MANPADs.
  - greedo 4y ago
    The RuAF is flying between 200-300 sorties a day, just not all over Ukraine where they'd get waxed by S300s. They're mostly flying in the Donbas, pretty much at the limits of the best SAMs Ukraine fields.
georgeg23 4y ago
"Starlink helps Ukraine's elite drone unit target and destroy Russian tanks" https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/03/starlink-helps-ukraines-elite-drone-unit-target-and-destroy-russian-tanks/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/03/starlink-helps-u...
dragonwriter 4y ago
> Ukraine doesn’t have the air force Strange that their nonexistent air force has been getting transfers of spare parts so they can fly more of their nonexistent fighters. https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/20/politics/ukraine-aircraft-spare-parts/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/20/politics/ukraine-aircraft-spa...
baybal2 4y ago

thriftwy 4y ago

Ukraine did have some air force even in 2014 where its army was barely functioning, and it surely has air force now. What's left of it at this stage. Ukraine is a large country.

atlasunshrugged 4y ago

Ukraine absolutely has an airforce. According to a recent CNN article, "In early March, about two weeks into the war, the defense official said Ukraine has 56 fighter aircraft, which composed about 80% of its fixed-wing fighters" https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/20/politics/ukraine-aircraft-spare-parts/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/20/politics/ukraine-aircraft-spa...

01100011 4y ago
The UkAF literally bombed Snake Island the other day. They definitely have an air force.
- melling 4y ago
  Yes, I guess I wasn’t explicit enough and now we’re having a silly discussion about a few dozen Ukrainian planes. The entire point was… anyway… I’ll be more explicit next time so we don’t run into the weeds and waste everyone’s time and get right to the issue
  - 01100011 4y ago
    It's the internet. So many people just looking to argue...
jollybean 4y ago
They are not flying a lot of missions. It was down to a few sorties a day. Neither Air Force is spending a lot of time in hotly contested territory. I suggest UKR AF is really just patrolling within the territory they control as a deterrent to Russian AF. But neither spending a lot of time directly in each other's turf. A bit sad UKR doesn't have better AA because Russia is flying a lot more sorties on their lines than they should be able to get away with. They are a bit too fast for MANPADs.
- greedo 4y ago
  The RuAF is flying between 200-300 sorties a day, just not all over Ukraine where they'd get waxed by S300s. They're mostly flying in the Donbas, pretty much at the limits of the best SAMs Ukraine fields.

georgeg23 4y ago

"Starlink helps Ukraine's elite drone unit target and destroy Russian tanks" https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/03/starlink-helps-ukraines-elite-drone-unit-target-and-destroy-russian-tanks/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/03/starlink-helps-u...

dragonwriter 4y ago

> Ukraine doesn’t have the air force Strange that their nonexistent air force has been getting transfers of spare parts so they can fly more of their nonexistent fighters. https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/20/politics/ukraine-aircraft-spare-parts/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/20/politics/ukraine-aircraft-spa...

baybal2 4y ago