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CNA Talks

Episode 138: Cheap Commercial Drones and the War in Ukraine

High-end, long-range combat drones like the MQ-1 Predator can fly for thousands of miles and strike adversaries from far away. They are also extremely expensive—one MQ1 costs $20 million—and manufacturing takes time. 

Such drones are in short supply in Russia, creating a gap in Russian military capabilities. But Russia has adapted. This episode examines Russian use of cheap commercial and foreign-made drones in Ukraine—how this impacts dynamics on the ground and what this may reveal about the broader Russian war effort.   

CNA Office of Communications

John Stimpson, Communications Associate