How Ukraine’s special ops hero ‘Arsenal’ is leading ‘strike force’ of stealth drone operators to hunt down Putin’s army

AS Ukraine runs desperately short on ammunition, small killing machines buzz across the battlefield, hunting down the enemy and decimating its tanks.

FPV drones are “our sword, our strike force” against Russia’s advance, special ops warrior “Arsenal”, the commander of Kyiv’s attack drone operations, told The Sun.

Ukraine has become increasingly reliant on first-person-view (FPV) drones — nimble, target-seeking, kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Since early 2023, the cheap, explosive, flying machines have turned into one of Kyiv's biggest success stories on the battlefield, forcing Moscow's forces to catch up.

"This is undeniable," said Arsenal, who goes by his call sign for security reasons.

The senior officer is head of FPV drones at the State Transport Special Service, a specialised military unit attached to Ukraine's Ministry of Defence.

With the 600-mile front frozen in hellish trench warfare, Arsenal said the conflict is moving into a "technological war" and developing attack drones is key to this.

The quadcopters cost around £300, are largely made from off-the-shelf pieces of kit and are now often assembled into precision weapons by civilians in their homes.

The only thing preventing Russia’s breakthrough on all fronts is FPV drones

Lt. Cl. Pavlo Kurylenko

Some are fitted with grenades or homebuilt bombs, others are used for reconnaissance missions to identify enemy positions and guide artillery fire.

“I used to shoot such ‘cinematic’ videos with the help of FPV-drones before the war,” Ukrainian filmmaker Anton Ptushkin  on X last November.

“Now we use FPV to defend our land.”

The attack UAVs have come to define the conflict, helped by constant streams of footage filmed onboard as they tail troops, blast Russian positions or with ruthless precision.

Arsenal revealed that the killer drones now successfully blitz Putin's targets in three out of five operations.

He said: "FPV drones are extremely important in this war. Absolutely every drone, even the ones that fall under the influence of Russian electronic jamming, save lives.

“If Mavic (surveillance) drones are our eyes - for the adjustment of artillery fire, withdrawal of groups to positions, reconnaissance - then FPV drones are our sword, our strike force."

Over two thirds of Russian tanks destroyed by Ukraine in recent months have been taken out using FPV drones, a Nato official told Foreign Policy.

Their long-range capabilities also save countless lives as the drone operator can be stationed away from the frontline.

“They make it safe for the pilots,” Arsenal said. “If earlier the grenade launcher had to be in the direct line of sight of the tank in order to hit it, risking his life, now this ‘shot’ with the same RPG projectile is carried out from a distance of 3-15km."

When asked about this most successful design characteristic, Arsenal proudly said: “There are many of them,” before adding, “But, unfortunately, I can’t comment on this for security reasons.” 

They're also being constantly adapted and upgraded as Ukraine's military learns from each new battle.

Last week, Kyiv announced it was building a new fleet of so-called "unstoppable" AI-powered FPVs designed to hunt down and strike targets on their own, while being less susceptible to Russian interception or jamming.