A report by a defense thinktank RUSI claims Ukraine is losing an incredible 10,000 drones a month, mainly due to Russian jamming. Does this show the failure or the success of such drones as modern battlefield tools?

As Watling himself puts it: “Unhardened UAVs are disposable tools like munitions and get consumed very rapidly. You need them in your force and you need them to be cheap.”

For decades, Western armies have relied on a few expensive, ‘exquisite’ high-tech platforms, and that includes drones. This conflict of disposable drones may lead to a radical change in military procurement towards the many and the cheap.