MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/. Russia's military industry will find an effective way to combat battlefield drones the dominance of which has been demonstrated in the Ukrainian conflict. Units of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have become a branch of the military, however, they will not replace either the air force or the navy, retired Major General Leonid Ivlev, deputy of the State Duma (lower house of Russia’s parliament) from the Republic of Crimea, said in an interview with TASS.

"In the history of war, certain concepts have always emerged. There was a concept by [Manfred von] Richthofen, a German pilot, called 'Aircraft Warfare': that is, the main thing in the development of aircraft as they will bomb everything, shoot everything and achieve victory. Then this concept was replaced by General [Heinz] Guderian's concept of tank warfare: tanks are the decisive force in war. I believe that aviation has a future, and so does the navy. Because the issue of combating drones will be resolved. Military scientists, the military industry, and military art will definitely find a way to solve the drone problem," the expert said.

He noted that the Ukrainian conflict has led to a leap forward in military art and constantly poses new challenges for the military-industrial complex. In particular, drones fly at low altitudes and are almost undetectable until they attack. Furthermore, shooting them down with traditional air defense systems is uneconomical – attack UAVs cost tens of times less than missiles. Meanwhile, electronic warfare systems have already emerged, and the Russian army is actively supplying rifles to eliminate UAVs with pellets. Drone detection systems using sound sensors, drone detectors, and other means are also being developed.