Episode Description: In this episode of Voices from the Front, callsign Sensei, the senior NCO of Ukraine’s 48th Separate Artillery Brigade, reflects on the changing role of artillery in drone-saturated positional warfare. He speaks to how the rise of first-person view drones and bombers has reshaped the battlefield and pushed traditional gunnery into a more selective, supporting role. He addresses the constant threat of aerial observation and precision strike, and the premium this now places on concealment, dispersal and survivability. He describes the growing integration of artillery with drones, sensors and digital fire-control networks that tie reconnaissance to rapid, coordinated fire. He reflects on how gun crews have adapted – both in their tactics and in defending themselves against the drone threat. He closes with his view of where artillery is heading: not obsolescence, but a hybrid future in which guns, uncrewed systems, robotics and counter-drone technologies fight as one integrated system.

About the series: Voices from the Front: First-hand accounts of the war in Ukraine is a new video series from the Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research. CHACR has been fortunate enough to receive this collection of first-hand accounts, filmed both in Kyiv and in forward locations with officers and soldiers. We offer these to you, at face value, to enable you to draw your own lessons from their content. The broad cross-section of speakers offers insight from the tactical level upwards that we feel the professionally curious (be they military or academic) will find useful and instructive.