Abu Dhabi: Ukraine has set out the goal of establishing a 15 kilometre unmanned “kill zone” along the front lines, which would see the most advanced Ukrainian drone units deploy a mix of surveillance and strike drones against Russian troops, according to government and defence-industry officials.
The project, dubbed the Drone Line, was announced by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence on February 9. According to statements made by Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, it has two core objectives: building a continuous drone reconnaissance capability along the line of defence, and boosting support for and coordination with infantry units to create a kind buffer strip where no troops can move undetected.
Kyiv’s call for an unmanned buffer zone came before US proclamations saying Ukraine and Europe would largely be bystanders in negotiations between Washington and Moscow aimed at ending the war. High-ranking delegations were set to meet in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, though an actual ceasefire could take months to hammer out.
Mykyta Rozhkov, chief managing officer at the Ukrainian robotics engineering company Frontline, explains that the envisioned zone’s technical specifications are in line with Kyiv’s capability plans for unmanned systems.
