Russia has created a new branch of its military to oversee the production, operation, and testing of uncrewed systems and the tactics and techniques for using them. Called the Unmanned Systems Forces (USF), the new branch mirrors a similar one Ukraine created last year, even using the same name. Its work will encompass aerial, land and surface drones.

Ukrainian officials have acknowledged the creation of this new branch, with one calling it a “threat.”

1780/ The Russian Ministry of Defense showcased the emblem of the unmanned systems troops.

"The emblem features a crossed arrow and sword, with a microchip bearing a star and wings in the center."

/t.me/warhistoryalconafter/248544 pic.twitter.com/l5WFY2nFK7

— Huligan (@Ghost132607472) November 12, 2025

In history’s most drone-saturated battlefield, both sides are seeking to streamline operations to better use the resources they have and stay ahead of the never-ending technology development cycle. The objective of the Russian USF is to do just that, according to its deputy chief.

“We have already formed established regiments, battalions, and other units,” Lt. Col. Sergei Ishtuganov told the Russian KP.Ru media outlet. “Their combat operations are conducted according to a unified plan and in coordination with other units of the troop groups. At the same time, the expansion of existing and the creation of new units… continues. We are assigning operators, engineers, technicians, and other support specialists to these units.”

The USF is already showing signs of success, Ishtuganov claimed, citing the situation in the embattled city of Pokrovsk, where both sides acknowledge that Russian drones have helped give Moscow the upper hand.

“Have you noticed what the enemy complains about most when surrounded in the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad agglomeration? That’s right – drones,” exclaimed Ishtuganov. “Just a year ago, our troops weren’t so saturated with drones of all types. But gradually, Russian units managed to turn the tide in the skies and effectively ‘squeeze’ them from the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”

Ukrainian action cam footage illustrating the sheer density of Russian FPV drone strikes inside Pokrovsk. pic.twitter.com/X6yjnxQxSR

— Russians With Attitude (@RWApodcast) November 1, 2025

Beyond the battlefield, the USF is “conducting combat testing of both drones and electronic warfare systems, working closely with manufacturers,” the USF deputy chief noted.

As we pointed out earlier in this story, both sides are rapidly developing new technologies and methods to defeat them. A big focus of the Russian USF is on electronic warfare (EW), where countermeasures often last just weeks or less before they no longer work.

“If necessary, we modify these or other products, taking into account the rapidly changing situation,” Ishtuganov explained. “The enemy plays with frequencies; we reconfigure our electronic warfare systems. The enemy begins to suppress us with electronic warfare; we switch to other frequencies. And this is an ongoing process, requiring, among other things, technical expertise.”

While procurement is a major effort of the new military branch, Ishtuganov offered no details about the process. It is important to note that Russia is now receiving a good deal of assistance from Beijing, now producing drones completely made up of Chinese components. Overall, Moscow has announced lofty intentions for producing new drones. It has a factory where the goal is to build 6,000 Shahed-type drones per month. Russia also has plans to make a total of 2 million first-person-view (FPV) drones this year.

Equipment is just part of the equation. The USF is also recruiting top military talent, Ishtuganov said.

“The effectiveness of this new branch of the armed forces, which is still in its infancy, is demonstrated by its personnel approach,” he suggested. “The best service members are selected, taking into account their combat achievements, among other things.”

The USF was created at the behest of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who in December 2024 ordered the Defense Ministry to establish a dedicated branch for drone warfare. While Putin shrugged off concerns about the capabilities of his drone operations, one Russian military observer said a combination of issues had impeded operations. One is how troops are deployed, explained the Forces Group “ZAPAD” | News Telegram channel. The other is how they have been equipped.

“Drone operators should not be sent as assault troops, as some commanders do,” the Telegram channel pointed out. “Otherwise, the whole process loses its meaning. Patching holes is a consequence of problems. And the existence of such problems is a result of careless command actions. There is hope that the (USF) troops will become a kind of ‘shield’ for all successful drone operators.”

Resources have been another big issue.

“In combat conditions, losing a drone is very easy, and if you have a strict limit on the number of drones — you are limited in your capabilities,” Forces Group posited. “It is no secret that drones are currently in short supply almost everywhere. Especially night drones. Especially our equivalents of Baba Yaga.” Baba Yagas, as we have explained in the past, are large industrial quadcopter drones armed with guided munitions.

The only Russian unit immune to this concern is Rubicon, a secretive force of drone operators that helped Russia push back Ukraine’s Kursk invasion.

“There is hope that the UAV Forces are being created, among other things, to solve the supply problem so that each unit can eventually call itself at least a mini-Rubicon,” Forces Group “Zapad” postulated.

Samuel Bendett, a drone expert and researcher with the Center for Naval Analyses think tank concurred with much of the Telegram channel’s hypothesis.

“There are no official standards today for many tactical drone R&D and uses in the Russian military,” he told us. “There are uneven supplies, there are issues with UAV pilots treated as typical infantry used for assaults, uneven supplies of qualified pilots and drones, etc. There is hope from many in the Russian military that USF will solve many of these issues.”

1/ THREAD: Now that the Rus MOD has signaled that the Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) are established, here is a take from Rus mil commentators on what USF can mean for the larger force – main points translated in this thread below. https://t.co/MrICeTog1P https://t.co/DMskea5zvH pic.twitter.com/m4lIuNN1Ht

— Samuel Bendett (@sambendett) November 13, 2025

The USF is not Russia’s first attempt to wrangle its drone operations. As we reported earlier this year, the Russian Navy dedicated regiments to operate uncrewed surface, undersea, air and land systems.

Ukraine, as we noted at the top of this story, created its own USF to address many of the same issues. The reaction in Kyiv toward the Russian version is one of concern.

“Heard a detailed intelligence report on the development of the enemy’s unmanned forces,” Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, noted on his Telegram channel. “The occupiers are following our experience, particularly in creating regiments of unmanned systems and interceptor drones, and are directing significant resources towards this. We must constantly improve to maintain technological superiority.”

“Special attention,” he added, “is given to scaling the [Ukrainian] Unmanned Systems Forces units: increasing the number of trained crews, involving personnel, and creating infrastructure for their effective operation.”

One Ukrainian official posited that Russia’s following Kyiv’s lead presents a real danger.

“They copied our successful solutions,” Andrii Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, stated on Telegram. “It was we who created strike UAV companies, which in 2023 allowed us to have an advantage over the enemy. And now the SBS operates very effectively. But the Russians copy and try to scale our innovations by quantity. This is a threat, of course.”

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