According to Business Insider, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has just announced a plan to increase domestic unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on a record scale to cope with the temporary disruption of missile and artillery supply from the West.
Mr. Zelensky also emphasized the important role of UAVs in protecting territory, preserving the number of soldiers and preventing enemy attacks. Drone has changed the nature of war, and these changes are long to end, he added.
In this context, Ukraine announced the establishment of a special UAV unit, named Typhoon in June 2024, but refused to disclose the number of members for security reasons.
When it was first launched, some members of the unit appeared publicly with UAV equipment in a video shared on social media.
Typhoon Commander, using the nickname Michael, said the unit plays an important role in the Ukrainian National Guard, with the mission of "developing and deploying specialized UAVs on the battlefield."
Michael continued to share that the unit gathered elite personnel, including engineers who were capable of quickly analyzing and developing equipment, along with potential pilots.
When recruiting, Typhoon prioritizes those who can learn quickly and adapt to the constantly changing battlefield.
Up to now, Typhoon is still actively recruiting new members, including gamers.
Commander Michael explained that gamers are used to handling situations quickly when looking at them on screen, which is similar to controlling UAVs. They have experience in making quick decisions, reacting flexibly and controlling complex systems. All of them are important skills in combat, said Michael.
A Typhoon pilot notes that while there is a similar operation to playing shooting video games, the biggest difference is no feedback button.
Typhoon representative emphasized that when deployed, UAVs are not simply about controlling UAVs to fly directly to targets, pilots must calculate to avoid the opponent as well as countermeasures when detected and attacked again. Decisions are only considered "in a deadlock".
This means that if they fail to fight with UAVs on the battlefield, the pilot may even have to pay the price with their lives.
