Western analysts say that the proliferation of drones and counter-drone systems in Ukraine has steadily transformed the battlefield into an increasingly ‘transparent’ battle-space.India’s Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (CISC), Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, had recently stated that Russia-Ukraine war is not simply a war between two nations but “a living laboratory of hybrid asymmetric warfare, which is the most rapid technological innovation seen since the Second World War”.Troop movements, logistics routes, and even rear positions remain under near-constant aerial surveillance.According to Reuters, drone-related casualties in the conflict have risen from less than 10 percent in 2022 to as much as 80 percent in 2025, highlighting the ways in which unmanned systems are changing frontline combat and demanding continual tactical adaptation.In another report, the Hudson Institute has estimated that drones were responsible for up to 75 per cent of combat losses on both the Russian and Ukrainian sides, highlighting the growing role of unmanned systems in battlefield attrition.Several defence analysts have described the conflict as the world’s first large-scale ‘drone-centric war’.
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