What are the most common weapons in the Ukrainian war? | news

Kiev’s allies met in London, today, Friday, in the presence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, to discuss supplying Ukraine with long-range weapons, at a time when the Russian-Ukrainian war changed the nature of the fighting on the fronts and the weapons used on it.

From drones to missiles, through the decline in the role of tanks, and the use by both sides of the war of several types of weapons for more than 3 and a half years in a war in which military technology is constantly developing.

The rise of the marches

Both sides use hundreds of drones daily, and they have become the most important weapon in the war and dominate the battlefields, so much so that soldiers are forced to hide underground to avoid them.

Drones are responsible for reconnaissance, monitoring enemy movements, and directing artillery fire, while small FPV (direct vision control) aircraft are used, which can be equipped with small missiles.

Its technology continues to develop through artificial intelligence or fiber optics to protect against interference.

Moscow uses “Ghairan” drones derived from the Iranian “Shahed” and “Lancet” drones, while Kiev relies on the Turkish “Bayrakdar” and several types of local and Western-made drones, in addition to larger attack drones used to strike remote infrastructure at a low cost.

“Iskander” vs. “Patriot”

Russia is resorting to its huge arsenal of missiles to strike strategic targets after overwhelming the Ukrainian defenses with drones.

Its arsenal includes cruise missiles (KH-101 and Kalibr), ballistic missiles (Iskander) and hypersonic missiles (Kingal).

In November 2024, Moscow used for the first time an experimental Orechnik missile capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads.

As for Kiev, it relies on limited Western missiles, including the British “Storm Shadow” and the French “Scalp,” in addition to the American “Atakms” and “HIMARS” systems. It has requested “Tomahawk” missiles from Washington, with no results so far.

Ukraine aspires to mass-produce its own missile, which it calls “Flamingo.”

In the field of air defense, Ukraine relies on the American Patriot, IRIS-T, NASAMS, and European SAMP/T systems, while Russia uses the S-400, Buk, and Pantsir systems.

In 2024, Kiev obtained F-16 fighters from its Western allies to help repel Russian attacks, and admitted losing 4 of them in combat operations.

The role of tanks declined

After being an essential element in the beginning of the ground war, tanks have become less present on the front due to their high cost and fragility in front of cheap drones.

Russia has lost a large number of its relatively modern tanks (T-90, T-80, and T-72), according to statistics based on information available from open sources.

In contrast, the Western tanks acquired by Ukraine (Leopard, Challenger and Abrams) failed to penetrate the tight Russian defenses during its counterattack in 2023.

Some units resorted to motorcycles or modified their tanks for protection in a way that made them look like machines out of the movie “Mad Max,” in the form of primitive and randomly armored vehicles in a world after a nuclear disaster.

Industrial warfare

The war in Ukraine has brought back the industrial dimension of the conflicts, with a war of attrition in which munitions are used extensively and weapons are produced on a large scale.

In 2024, a European authority estimated the number of missiles fired by Russia daily at about 10,000, equivalent to a tenth of France’s annual production. Since 2023, Moscow has been making extensive use of guided glide bombs as well.

In the face of this reality, and in light of what appears to be a desire by US President Donald Trump to reduce American involvement in the Russian-Ukrainian war, European countries, led by France, Germany and Poland, have begun accelerated efforts to rearm.