The Department of Defense’s recent military support to Ukraine has focused on delivering both drones and counter-drone weapons, in what appears to be a strengthened effort to prevail in the air and enable additional surveillance and targeting capabilities.

This certainly makes tactical sense: U.S. and NATO-provided precision rockets have been increasingly effective at destroying critical Russian targets such as supply lines, communications nodes, and even missile launch sites. In order for ground-fired precision rockets to pinpoint Russian targets, they require specific targeting details from satellites, reconnaissance units, or drones. Accordingly, an increase in drones would appear to generate an increasing ability to target and destroy Russian targets previously not within reach of Ukrainian weapons.

In support of this, the Pentagon is sending more hand-launched Puma drones and support equipment for the catapult-supported ScanEagle drone.

The ScanEagle drone is already in service with the Navy and Marine Corps and is currently being integrated across the U.S. Coast Guard as well. It brings a rare ability to catapult from the deck of a surface ship or ground location and perform vital forward-operating reconnaissance missions. It also adds a significant sphere of new capabilities to the Coast Guard’s strategic and tactical approach.

Ukrainian forces have benefitted from Western and NATO surveillance for quite some time, yet an increased ability for fighters to use smaller, hand-launched drones more “organic” to the units they support introduces key tactical nuances. Close-in handheld drones such as the Puma can help Ukrainian fighters look on the other side of a building or hill and help pinpoint specific targets for air and ground attack. This is particularly true in the case of artillery, as the Ukrainians have numerous 155mm artillery weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

This circumstance, as described by Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl, is precisely why the Pentagon is sending fifteen new ScanEagle systems as well. Using a built-in ability to launch from a catapult, ScanEagle drones can introduce a medium-sized intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capability without needing a runway, something which enables Ukrainian forces to launch drones from more austere locations where the terrain may prove inhospitable to the use of any runway.

The current air support effort also involves the addition of “Vampire” counter-drone weapons built to track and knock out or “destroy” drones from the ground.

“The Vampire system itself is a counter UAS system. It is a kinetic system, it uses small missiles, essentially, to shoot UAVs out of the sky,” Kahl said.

Kris Osborn is the defense editor for the National Interest. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Master’s Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.

Image: Wikipedia.