US scrambles as drones shape the landscape of war: 'the future is here'

FIRST ON FOX: The U.S. Army this week took steps to advance American military capabilities by ordering close to 12,000 surveillance drones small enough to fit in a backpack as the reality of battle shifts in favor of electronic warfare. 

Conflicts around the globe, particularly the war in Ukraine, have drastically changed how major nations think about conducting war, explained drone expert and former U.S. Army intelligence and special operations soldier Brett Velicovich to Fox News Digital.

The nearly three-year-long war in Ukraine has often depicted scenes not witnessed since World War II, with children loaded onto trains, veins of trenches scarring the eastern front and renewed concern over how the geopolitics of this conflict could ensnare the entire Western world. 

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But Ukraine’s scrappy response to its often outnumbered and at times outgunned reality has completely changed how major nations look at the modern-day battlefield. 

"Think about how we fought wars in the past," Velicovich, a Fox News contributor, said, pointing to the Vietnam War. "When you were fighting the enemy over that trench line, you didn't know who was over that hill. You saw a red hat and you fired at it." 

"Now you have the ability to see what's over that hill and maneuver your forces quickly based on that," he added. 

A report by The Wall Street Journal this week said the U.S. Army secured potentially its largest-ever purchase of small surveillance drones from Red Cat Holding’s Utah-based Teal Drones. 

This move is a significant step that the U.S. has been eyeing for more than a decade after terrorists first began employing small-drone tactics against the U.S. military in the Middle East.

According to Velicovich, who routinely visits Ukraine to advise on drone technology, the U.S. is trailing its top adversaries like Russia and China when it comes investment in drone capabilities.  

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While the U.S. invested heavily in sophisticated systems like Predator and Reaper drones — which are multimillion-dollar systems designed for intelligence collection and lengthy navigation flight times and possess missile strike capabilities — it is the small, cheaply made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which are changing battlefield dynamics. 

"These handheld, small UAS systems that you are able to take a drone with a bomb strapped to it [have become] basically an artillery shell now. It's guided artillery shells," Velicovich said in reference to Unmanned Aircraft Systems, which include not only the UAV, but also the controller manned from the ground. "Frankly, it's changing how countries are going to fight wars in the future, and the U.S. has been so slow to get ahead of this."

It has reportedly taken the U.S. Army some 15 years to start beefing up its Short Range Reconnaissance program with these backpack-sized drones, in part because there was a mental hurdle the Department of Defense needed to push through.

"It's the mentality of senior leaders," Velicovich explained. "These guys are hardened battle infantry guys. They didn't grow up with fancy technology."

"It really takes a lot of people understanding, changing their thought process. And that's happening now because of the accelerating war in Ukraine, where they've seen how effective drones are," he said, noting that drones can no longer be dismissed as gimmicks or toys of the future. 

"Now it's real. Now it's here, the future is here," Velicovich said. "We will never fight another war without drones."

Teal Drones worked to develop a UAS system based on battlefield needs identified by the U.S. Army, and eventually created the drone that has been dubbed the Black Widow, explained Red Cat CEO Jeff Thompson to Fox News Digital. 

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This sophisticated system is capable of being operated by a single man, can resist Russian jammers, has strike capabilities, and can fly in GPS-denied zones — an important factor that has been highlighted by the war in Ukraine.

"The Short Range Reconnaissance drone is really going to be able to help the warfighter be more lethal and be a safer soldier," Thompson said.

The U.S. Army greenlighted the purchase of nearly 12,000 drones. Each soldier kitted out with the Black Widow technology will be given what is called a "system," which includes two drones and one controller — all of which can fit in one's rucksack. 

Each system, including the drones and controller, costs the U.S. government about $45,000.

But, as Johnson pointed out, Ukraine’s armed forces are going through about 10,000 drones a month — which suggests the U.S. will need to acquire far more than 12,000 drones. 

The war in Ukraine has shown that affordably made drones, particularly FPV drones, which stands for "first-person view," can be made for as low as $1,000 a drone and frequently strapped with explosives and utilized as kamikaze drones. 

But drone warfare is about significantly more than sheer quantity — it’s a "power game."

"This is a cat and mouse game," Velicovich said, explaining that drone and counter-drone technology, like jamming systems, are constantly evolving. "This is playing out at a level that most people don't realize."

"It's like we were almost peering into the future," he continued. "We are seeing what's happening on the ground now, there in Ukraine, and eventually we'll have to fight a war similar to it, and we just need to be ready."