Picture a drone. Nine out of ten people would picture something flying. However, drones are evolving in today’s world to encompass the other two fields of movement. Drones have always been thought to be flying in the air, but other aspects of them have been explored recently. A dictionary definition of a drone is the following: a remote-controlled pilotless aircraft or small flying device. It does not have to be an aircraft though as Google defines: a remote-controlled or autonomous vehicle designed for use underwater or on land. Throughout this blog, these land and marine drones will be inspected through their effects on the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Currently, drones are revolutionizing the fighting aspect of war. Within the Ukraine-Russia war, drones have been mentioned. According to defensenews.org, Ukraine’s officials are developing a new type of drone for defense against the Russians. Adam, a drone maker and the head of Skydio, said that they had three main purposes: demining, medical evacuation, and combat.
Testing the drone (source: defensenews.com)
Exploring the first major purpose, the definition of demining is in the word itself. It is the process of removing land mines from a battlefield, so that the troops of Ukraine can safely pass. This is extremely important as it can prevent human casualties from any type of trap. Medical evacuation is simply another way of saying search and rescue, which has also been covered at projectomni.org. Finally, combat is arguably the most important purpose as the entire point of creating these drones was to decrease the casualties of the front lines. Using unmanned vehicles could decrease the death toll.
Moving to the other aspect of the drone, marine drones are also used by Ukraine in the war. According to the YouTube Video called Ukraine's Sea Drones are Getting Crazy, the previous marine drones used by Ukraine are called Mykola. They work autonomously as basically a kamikaze boat. After being placed in the water, they can sneak in groups underwater until they all accelerate until they explode at a wall.
Currently, the new marine drones developed goes by the name of Magura. Another model introduced was called the Sea Baby. Both of these aquatic weapons are seriously huge and weigh about a ton. Ukraine strategically places these drones by attacking Russian ships. Throughout the war, Ukraine has been using these drones by striking ships and even directly aiming for the ports. These drones typically explode on contact, meaning they cannot be used again.
All in all, these drones in the war are revolutionizing modern warfare. Land drones may be sneaking around the ground, while the marine drones are speeding toward a Russian supply ship in the Black Sea. However, the possibility of these drones expanding past just war. If engineers can create a system utilizing all three aspects of a drone, the possibilities are endless.
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