However, Ukrainian officials have found U.S. drones fragile and unable to overcome Russian jamming and Global Positioning System (GPS) blackout technology. There are times when they can't even take off, complete missions or return home. Moreover, the drones often fail to fly at the distances advertised or carry substantial payloads. "Small American drones for the battlefield have been underdeveloped," Mykola Bielieskov, a senior analyst at Ukraine's Come Back Alive, a charity that has supplied more than 30,000 drones to the military, said. Even some of the drones that the Department of Defense (DoD) has deemed fit for American soldiers have not fared well in the conflict, the WSJ report indicated. Some problematic weapons included AeroVironment Switchblade 300 loitering munitions, Velos Rotors V3 helicopter drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) made by Cyberlux. The report also indicated that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky's troops use some 10,000 small drones a month, which include off-the-shelf models produced by Chinese manufacturer SZ DJI Technology. The said firm was banned from U.S. military use for supposedly posing a national security risk. Ukraine has already developed a domestic drone industry that relies on Chinese components. It is churning out hundreds of thousands of small, cheap drones that can carry explosives. It also produces larger drones that can strike deep into enemy territory and reach Russian ships on the Black Sea. Ukraine's deputy minister of digital transformation Georgii Dubynskyi claimed that they want to test and use more U.S. drones. "Nevertheless, we are looking for cost-effective solutions," he said.Drones from American startups have been deemed glitchy and expensive, prompting Ukraine to turn to alternatives from China https://t.co/b6YtWiqEpM https://t.co/b6YtWiqEpM
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) April 10, 2024
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