"Mazhor" (In Ukraine, "Mazhor" is a common nickname for a person with wealthy relatives or coming from a wealthy background, usually also living a luxurious lifestyle – ed.) got his nom-de-guerre, not because he was wealthy, but because of his firearm.
In February 2022, when he was at a checkpoint on the Kyiv bypass, the territorial defence fighters had 5.45mm calibre rifles, while Mazhor, by chance, got a 7.62mm rifle. His friend Sasha, who was nearby, noticed the superior "toy" and rendered the verdict: "Alright, your nom-de-guerre is going to be Mazhor."
Sasha died in the winter, and in memory of his comrade, Mazhor decided to keep his nom-de-guerre. He continues to go by it, even though he has little money.
And the money wouldn’t hurt, either. Not because FPV drones are expensive. On the contrary, they’re one of the cheapest solutions for aerial attacks.
The price of one FPV drone is, on average, $300-400. But don’t forget that they’re kamikaze drones, otherwise known as suicide drones (There are also multiple-use FPVs which cost around the same as a kamikaze, but the author chose to focus on kamikaze FPVs – ed.), so those three hundred dollars are spent on a single flight.
"We all see those impressive videos of a drone flying and bam! It hits the target. Damn! You’re a skilled pilot if one out of five hits the mark. So the cost of this endeavour – God forbid," says Mazhor, confessing that he hits the target in one out of three cases.
The lenses on FPV drone cameras are typically cheap and unsuitable for detailed terrain exploration. Pilots rely on the data gathered by reconnaissance drones and sometimes ground reconnaissance markers. So, when sending their quadcopter on its final flight, they usually already know what they want to target.
Mazhor launches the drone only when he finds a truly "juicy" target: military equipment, infantry concentrations, and surveillance systems. It’s difficult to hit moving vehicles with artillery, infantry can disperse before a slower drone reaches them, and it’s challenging to destroy a surveillance camera on a thin pole using ammunition, even when dropped from a UAV. It’s much easier to crash into the camera.
Among the forms of warfare mentioned, the average civilian shows the least understanding of cameras. The Russian long-range video surveillance system Murom-M can detect a person at a distance of up to 10 km during the day and up to 4 km at night via its thermal camera.
It can be programmed with 30 points to monitor continuously, 24/7. When it detects an interesting object, it transmits the coordinates to the military, who can immediately open fire on the sector.
Mazhor recalls an operation in the Luhansk region. The Russians installed a camera on a telephone tower in one of the villages, monitoring from a strategically important height. When Ukrainian soldiers entered the area, the occupiers could see where their targets were and adjusted their fire accordingly.
Destroying the metal structure of the tower was challenging. That’s when Mazhor’s team came to the rescue. They found a convenient launching position, and within a few minutes the kamikaze drone had destroyed the Russian camera.
When discussing the effectiveness of FPV drones, people often use another comparison – a "bird" worth $300 can damage a tank worth several million dollars.
"If you hit the back compartment of the engine correctly, there's a 70% chance it will ignite," says a military drone pilot with the call sign "DJ," specializing in FPV. "For example, a tank comes out, it’s in action, and you fly towards it. You can at least hit the tracks, causing them to come off, and that’s it – the tank is immobilized, and now it can be finished off by artillery. Alternatively, you can launch another drone for the task."
Service person DJ hasn’t actually taken down tanks yet, but he has successfully targeted APCs.
Moreover, on YouTube, plenty of videos show quadcopter kamikazes chasing tanks. And among military personnel, there are many stories about cases where, in a particular combat zone, drones burnt down 40 enemy armoured vehicles in a month.
Other interesting targets for an FPV drone pilot are surveillance posts, anti-tank missile systems, tripod-mounted grenade launchers, and large-calibre machine guns. They can even infiltrate bunkers, which isn’t possible with a regular projectile.
Although an FPV drone is essentially a projectile, it is a guided one.
Another essential difference from the [DJI] "Mavic 3," which has already become "the classic" of the Ukrainian battlefield, is that the FPV drone is three times faster. This crewless aircraft effortlessly reaches speeds of up to 160 kilometres per hour. Depending on the amount of explosives installed on board, the speed may decrease, but it remains incredibly high.
Due to the enhanced speed and manoeuvrability, pilots control the drones using goggles, providing maximum immersion in the combat scene. However, the goggles prevent a pilot from seeing their immediate surroundings. That’s why a pilot usually needs a partner to ensure their safety.
In addition to simple cameras, FPV drones have weak batteries that only last a few minutes of flight. However, it is sufficient to reach the target. These quadcopters have another significant advantage over the Mavic 3. They are much more resistant to electronic warfare.
FPV drones use an analog video transmission system. Jamming this system is much more challenging, but the enemy can intercept the signal and see the same image as the operator. The intercept would pose a danger if the drone were to return to the pilot and expose the positions of Ukrainian fighters.
However, for this type of drone, it is a one-way journey.
"Mavic is already a classic. It is quite expensive, but it is a versatile drone designed to return," says aerial reconnaissance specialist Hnezdilov, who, given the chance, would erect a monument to the Mavic 3. "As for FPV... If we compare it to motorcycles, it would be like an amateur enduro bike that enthusiasts have assembled, and now they ride and show off their skills."
Where FPV drones are manufactured
Every day in dozens of Ukrainian garages, perhaps even hundreds, people are hammering, soldering, and adjusting the equipment. There are hundreds of people. They work both weekdays and weekends, all producing FPV drones.
To be more precise, it is not so much "production." Rather, it’s the assembly of the components, which are ordered separately. And the term "garage" is a general name used for small enterprises, a tribute to the times when craftsmen worked in garages. Nowadays, it is often not an actual garage but rather a house, office, former warehouse, or even a bunker.
FPV quadcopters are not complex devices: once you get used to them, you can assemble one in an evening.
"This field has evolved into a business. Right now, people are making big bucks from it in Ukraine," assures Mazhor. In his understanding, it’s a way to make money during the war.
From the manufacturers’ perspective, it is a business that saves the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.
– Russia indeed invests significant funds in this area. They import truckloads of components from China and simply hand them over to engineers, saying, "Start assembling!" Russia has quickly developed standardized ammunition for UAVs. Russian military personnel don’t need to assemble the ammunition themselves; they take it out of the box, attach it, and fly, says Lyubov Shipovych, the founder of the charitable foundation Dignitas Fund.
We talk to her at one of their enterprises. They are assembling a batch of 30 FPV drones that Shipovych will take to the front lines tomorrow. Eight hundred drones have been contracted from manufacturers, and 150 have already been delivered to soldiers.
