Even with coordinated armor maneuvers, massive artillery strikes and heavy sieges and charges at trench lines, drones remain one of the most potent threats in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And Ukraine came up with an unusual tactic to deal with them: take out the drone operators. This wasn’t a targeted commando operation or precision strikes; instead Ukraine planted explosives in the first person view goggles drone operators wear.
The goggles, imported into Russia as donated humanitarian aid, would then blow up, taking out the drone pilots. And if they exploded beforehand, they might make Russian troops afraid to wear the gear, which helps them coordinate their drone attacks.
The plot was first reported by Russian state media and confirmed by Ukrainian officials, who also spoke about the plan to the New York Times. According to pro-war Russian Telegram channels, the goggles contained anywhere between 10-15 grams of explosive material, that would detonate when turned on. It’s unclear how many devices were detonated and how many actually made it to the battlefield. Russia has not reported any casualties from the attempt. But the plot shows how sabotage is evolving.
At its core the Ukrainian subterfuge is a sabotage operation, designed to take out enemy ranged weapons. Sabotaging enemy supplies and gear is an old tactic. The technology involved changes but the idea is the same — hurt the enemy’s ability to wage war. After three years of war, Ukraine is continuing to look at ways to weaken the Russian war machine.
Uncrewed aerial and maritime systems, better known as drones, have become a staple of the war in Ukraine, on both sides. Military ones and modified commercial drones such as quadcopters are used in direct attacks, reconnaissance and as spotters for conventional artillery units. Ukrainian forces have tried several means to take out Russian drones, from dogfights with their own UAS or shooting them out of the sky with jury-rigged anti-air systems. The soldiers operating the drones become both key parts of an army’s offensive strategy and important targets for the other side. FPV drones, used by both sides, require specific goggles to operate.
Ukraine got the idea to go after the equipment from Israel’s sabotaged pager attacks in Lebanon last year. Israeli intelligence created dummy companies to modify pagers, planting explosive material in them, before they were imported into Lebanon by Hezbollah. Israel then detonated the pagers on Sept. 17 (followed by detonating walkie talkies the next day). The strikes killed dozens and injured thousands, including many civilians caught in the blasts.
Wartime sabotage has taken many forms. During World War II, the Office of Strategic Services tried several ways to mess with the German war machine. That ranged from detonating explosives in German factories and damaging trains. Some of the biggest efforts came in the days and weeks leading up to the D-Day landings in June 1944.
Augmented reality or high-tech goggles become more widespread in warfare. The United States is exploring its own advanced goggles, not directly for drone warfare, but in ways to provide additional technological tools to troops in the field. The unusual logistics-based attack done by Ukraine might become common as well.
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