Ukraine Wins First Drone Vs Drone Dogfight Against Russia, Opening A New Era Of Warfare

A video posted on Twitter by Ukrainian broadcaster and activist Serhiy Prytula is claimed to show a dogfight between Russian and Ukrainian drones, both DJI Mavic quadcopters. Prytula, who has been heavily involved in fundraising to supply Ukrainian forces with drones, says the Russian Mavic was destroyed in the encounter in which the two unarmed quads clashed rotors. Many are hailing this as the first drone-on-drone dogfight in history. It will surely not be the last.

Prytula describes the encounter as a “WW1 style duel” and it is highly reminiscent of the earliest days of aerial warfare when flimsy biplanes from either side encountered each other and pilots armed with pistols and shotguns exchanged fire. Sometimes the pilots used their aircraft as weapons: in September 1914, Imperial Russian pilot Pyotr Nesterov rammed an Austro-Hungarian Albatross bomber, bringing it down.

Drones have been involved in air-to-air combat ever since they were first used in WW1, but usually…