Drone tech has had exactly the same effect machine guns and precise artillery had in WW1: an advantage of the defense over the offense, which turns the war into one of attrition.
Neither side is able to do sweeping maneuvers and break through defensive lines until the other side's ability to fight is completely exhausted.
This war won't end before Putin is gone, one way or the other.
this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2026
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Why would that be, that drone warfare advantages defense?
WW1 era weapons advancements like machine guns advantaged defense, because these new weapons were not easily mobile. But drones are extremely mobile.
The main difference between WWI and Today's trench warfare the the level of intelligence available, combined with the ability to precision-strike.
It's interesting because drones are very mobile, able to be deployed close to the front, and extremely deadly, but simultaneously limited. The heavier payload ones can also be longer range, but counter-UAV technology (mostly jamming) makes these harder to use. In comparison, the shorter-range drones can be sent via cable - impossible to jam, but limited flight distance due to the trailing wire + weight.
The application of drones on the battlefield also favors the defender. The small-payload drones are exceptional at taking out moving vehicles and light infantry, and overhead imagery (via drone or satellite) is nearly omnipresent. With neither side able to secure complete air power, the normal target softening approach of airstrikes followed by troop movement isn't viable, and then drones take out even the most spread-out groups moving forward. The result is that the doctrinal 3:1 attacker ratio that favors defenders is even more lopsided with drones. I fear that we'll see a greatly increased use of autonomous weaponry as a result, which is extremely dangerous for humanity.
The long range ones are increasingly small aircraft running on dead reckoning for final or loss of comms, ie. Jamming has very little effect at this point.
Why would that be, that drone warfare advantages defense?
For an offensive action you need to concentrate enough forces and material in one area to achieve a breakthrough.
In Ukraine, there is now a "grey area" between the fronts which neither side controls but is permanently patrolled by drones, similar to WW1's "no-mans-land".
It's up to 20-30km wide, and any vehicle entering it is destroyed by drone swarms.
Crossing it on foot takes up to a week, and less than 10% make it through alive.
This makes it impossible to bring heavy equipment to the actual front line for an assault, or even re-supply your soldiers hiding in trenches there.
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