WSJ: In war, American drones have proven to be expensive and unreliable. So Ukraine buys Chinese ones

In a full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, American-made drones did not prove themselves — they are expensive, unreliable and difficult to repair. This also applies to the drones of the Skydio company from Silicon Valley, which sent hundreds of its best examples to Ukraine.

This was reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) after conversations with company executives, Ukrainian military, government officials and US defense exhibitors.

Skydio drones flew off course, got lost, became victims of Russian electronic warfare. In general, most drones from American startups have not proven themselves in combat.

"The general reputation of each class of U.S. drones in Ukraine is that they donʼt perform as well as other systems," Skydio CEO Adam Bry said, adding that his companyʼs drones have not been very successful on the front lines.

According to Ukrainian officials, American-made drones sometimes could not take off or carry a significant payload, and did not fly at the declared distances.

The managers of the American company for the production of drones explain that they did not take into account the Russian electronic warfare. The Skydio company developed its drone in 2019 according to US communication standards. At the same time, US restrictions on drone parts and testing create problems — companies canʼt produce them quickly, while the war in Ukraine shows the need for daily upgrades.

"We must quickly adapt to new technologies. The innovation cycle in this war is very short," stressed the Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Heorhii Dubynskyi.

Drones from China

Due to this situation with Western drones, Ukraine buys tens of thousands of drones and spare parts for them from China, in particular from the Chinese company SZ DJI Technology. At the same time, Ukraine is developing its own production of drones, but it also relies on Chinese components.

According to the WSJ, the Ukrainian military uses approximately ten thousand drones a month, so Ukraine is looking for budget solutions: many American drones are tens of thousands of dollars more expensive than Chinese ones.

Meanwhile, SZ DJI Technology said it wants to limit the use of its drones in war, but is unable to control the use of drones once they have been purchased. DJI wrote that it condemns the use of its products to "cause harm anywhere in the world."

In the US, DJI is called a Chinese military company and a surveillance tool of Beijing. The company denies this. The U.S. military has banned DJI drones in what the company called an attempt to eliminate competition.

U.S. company executives and U.S. defense exhibitors say the shortcomings of their drones are the result of the U.S. governmentʼs policy toward China, as the Pentagon imposed strict requirements on drone manufacturers, including a ban on Chinese components. Therefore, the production of drones in the USA is expensive and difficult.

Skydio is on the mend

The Skydio company turned to Ukraine for feedback on its drones 17 times. As executive director Adam Bry noted, the company developed a new drone for the needs of the Ukrainian military, based on feedback from the military, public security agencies and other customers, rather than the requirements of the US Department of Defense.

Ukraine has requested thousands of new Skydio X10. This drone can switch frequencies independently if its signal is jammed by electronic interference. Skydio X10 also received improved navigation capabilities, so it can fly at high altitudes without GPS.

• In the summer of 2023, the American company Skydio presented nine Skydio 2+ autonomous drones to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, which helped Ukrainian law enforcement officers document war crimes.