Russians Reportedly Attach Nails to Drones for ‘Air Battles’ Against Other UAVs

Russian forces have reportedly devised a new tactic to fight enemy drones during “air battles”—attaching nails to their drones as a weapon, according to a report by Defense Express.

“We detect a [enemy] copter, attach nails to our copter, and land it on the enemy drone,” Russian propaganda media quoted an instructor from the front-line reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and FPV drone school as saying. “Then, it strikes the enemy drone's rotors with the nails, breaking the blades, causing it to crash.”

As per Russian media reports, this strategy involves a deliberate “hunt,” where the drone equipped with nails is designed to take down an enemy UAV and return undamaged rather than ramming the targeted drone in a midair collision.

However, Defense Express doubts this, suggesting that this “nail drone” tactic may be the initiative of individual units encountering enemy drones during missions.

“The idea of using nails on a drone could be an option for air-to-air combat... This method, though unconventional, warrants some attention, as it appears to be an effective way to neutralize enemy drones,” the report read.

Kyiv Post sought comment from a Ukrainian FPV drone operator, who dismissed the method as “dubious,” noting that attaching nails adds unnecessary weight to the UAV, providing little practical value.

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If this information is confirmed, it would be the first time such a weapon had been used since Russia invaded in February 2022.

“A more effective air combat technique is to tie a long thread with a small weight to the drone. By flying above the enemy quadcopter, the thread can tangle in the enemy’s rotors,” the Ukrainian servicemember said.

“If the pilot is skilled enough, he can even bring the enemy drone back to controlled territory as a trophy,” he added.

Defense Express also highlighted that Ukraine’s Defense Forces are actively using anti-aircraft FPV drones to counter Russian reconnaissance UAVs.

“As practice has shown, this approach has been highly effective against enemy drones, especially given the shortage of anti-aircraft missiles,” the report said.

Drone-on-drone combat remains relatively rare. Videos of “combat collisions” between UAVs in midair are still relatively rare on the internet. However, recent footage from the Khorne Group, part of the 116th Mechanized Brigade’s unmanned attack aircraft unit, shows a Russian Mavic drone attempting to shoot down a Ukrainian FPV drone near Russian positions.

“We are witnessing the dawn of a new era in drone-on-drone warfare,” the Khorne Group reported.

Ukraine has emerged as a global leader in military drone and electronic warfare technologies, surpassing Russia, according to a report by Forbes. While Russia once dominated these fields during the 2014 annexation of Crimea, it has lost its edge over the past 30 months of the full-scale invasion.

Forbes attributes Ukraine’s advantage to the seamless integration of its commercial and defense sectors. Over 200 Ukrainian companies now produce military drones, with 50 specializing in electronic warfare systems. This rapid adaptation has been crucial in gaining the upper hand in the ongoing war.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces are also equipping their drones with a variety of weapons. With Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines often lacking resources, they have been forced to innovate. 

A video from the “Wild Hornets” unit—a volunteer group that builds FPV kamikaze drones for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU)—showed a Ukrainian FPV drone armed with an AK-74 assault rifle firing at Russian positions in Donetsk.

Another video circulating on social media featured Ukrainians testing an FPV drone equipped with an RPG-18 grenade launcher.

Earlier this year, a Ukrainian telecommunications portal reported that Ukrainian engineers had modified a DJI Agras T30 agricultural drone to detect, track, and destroy military targets using a 7.62x54 mm PKM machine gun and a Bullspike-AT grenade launcher.

Additionally, Ukrainian forces have started using fire-spewing drones against Russian positions in tree lines and forests. These drones rain down molten metal, using a pyrotechnic composition called thermite, on their targets. This new weapon was developed by a Ukrainian start-up that produces explosive devices, including thermite charges, designed for drone employment.