Patrick Bury

The war in Ukraine is entering a new phase where technology is increasingly defining the fight.

From drone swarms to unmanned ground vehicles, Kyiv is reshaping how wars are waged in real time.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said some positions are now being recaptured without troops on the ground, taken instead by coordinated drone and robotic systems.

So what does it mean for the conflict and indeed for the future of warfare and the future of defense spending?

I'm joined now by Patrick Bury, defense expert at the University of Bath.

Patrick, good morning.

Good morning, Pat.

Now, first of all, you might bring us up to date on the state of the war where, you know, it's off the headlines because of what's going on in Iran and other international events, the oil crisis and so on.

So what is happening on the front lines in Ukraine?

First off, it's good to actually cover it because it has, as you said, dropped off completely.

Basically, what has happened in the recent last six months, which is about the innovation cycles and technology that we're seeing from the Ukrainians and then the Russians later on copy them, is the Ukrainians have developed across the front line a drone wall, which is basically persistent drone coverage for about 40 to 60 kilometers in depth over the front line.

And then with that, they've changed their targeting.

So instead of just trying to kill Russian soldiers, which Russians obviously have a lot of, the Ukrainians have worked out that it's better if they target the logistics, the command and control, and crucially, the Russian drone operators.

And by doing so, what has happened so far is the Russian spring offensive that we were expecting has failed to materialize.

So it's having a large impact on our ability to basically form up and plan operations.

and get through that drone line.

And even in some areas, the Ukrainians at the tactical level have been advancing.

So that's the kind of major innovation at the moment.

It favours the defender in general.

And yeah, the Russian spring offensive that we're all expecting as a big push hasn't materialised so far.