Ukraine gives the US a sweet deal with one dead Russian soldier for every $20,000 spent on drones, unit commander says

Ukraine says it can produce 4 million drones yearly, as unmanned loitering munitions continually grow central to the war.

A drone unit commander in Ukraine hopes to persuade the US to keep sending aid to Kyiv by showing how cost-effective supporting the war effort can be for the West, The Atlantic reported.

In an article published on Monday, the magazine’s Karl Marlantes and Elliot Ackerman wrote that a drone commander of the 92nd Assault Brigade showed them presentation slides about the cost of loitering munitions used by his squad.

The big takeaway was that, on average, for each $20,000 spent on his unit, Ukraine could score one kill on Russian forces.

Here’s how the math works out. According to The Atlantic’s writers, the commander’s slides said that a drone unit funded with $100 million could stay on the battlefield for a full year, carrying out 5,000 lethal strikes.

The commander, nicknamed “Achilles,” posited that such a cheap cost would be a boon for Western leaders hoping to contain Russia and consequently undermine threats from China and Iran.

For context, the US spends about $3,000 making one unguided 155mm shell, which is one of the most used artillery munitions in the war. A GPS-guided shell — including those supplied to Ukraine — could cost up to $100,000 per round, according to government figures released this year on weapons expenses from 2022.

The Switchblade, the lethal drone being used by the US military, costs about $58,000 each on paper. Some, like defense writer David Hambling, estimate that its actual price is likely about $80,000 apiece when factoring in training and supplementary parts.

Per The Atlantic, “Achilles” hopes his argument can help galvanize US leaders into thinking that more support for Ukraine makes financial sense.

The commander is based out of Kharkiv, according to his Telegram channel, which publishes clips of his drones attacking Russian forces and equipment.

Ukraine has long said that it relies heavily on Western aid to defend itself against Russia and that it needs far more to win the war.

But there are fears that Washington’s equipment donations won’t last as the conflict drags on, and as Capitol Hill’s collective political will to support Kyiv wanes. President Joe Biden signed an executive agreement in June pledging to back Ukraine for 10 years, but it’s the sort of deal that can be canceled by any future president.

Presidential candidate Donald Trump, for one, has openly expressed disdain at the idea of fueling Ukraine’s fight, saying he’d prefer to strike a deal with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, aid to Ukraine fell to its lowest level since the war began in December 2023, though several aid packages totaling at least $16 billion have since been announced by the Biden administration.

In February, Ukraine’s then-military chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, called for a mindset shift away from a reliance on Western aid and instead toward cheap drones.

Both Ukraine and Russia have been intensifying their deployment of first-person drones as loitering munitions, with companies and volunteer organizations on both sides manufacturing drones en masse for battle use.

“We must contend with a reduction in military support from key allies, grappling with their own political tensions,” wrote Zaluzhnyi, who at the time was facing rumors of being fired. He was replaced several days later by Oleksandr Syrskyi.

Meanwhile, Kyiv has been trying to shore up the gap by accelerating its domestic defense manufacturing industry, producing its own missiles, artillery systems, and drones.

Quantity, not quality, has been the focus of its drone manufacturing, Ukraine’s minister of strategic industries, Oleksandr Kamyshin, told B-17 in July.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that the country is now capable of producing 4 million drones per year.