On Wednesday, 12 November 2025, as reported by the Russian news agency TASS, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, following the directives of Russian President Vladimir Putin, established a new branch of the armed forces: the Unmanned Systems Forces.
Illustrative photo: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
“The Unmanned Systems Forces of the Russian Armed Forces have been established. The structure of this new branch of the armed forces has been determined, the head of the Unmanned Systems Forces has been appointed, military administration units have been created at all levels. Operational regiments and other units have been formed. Combat work of the unmanned systems units is being carried out following a single plan and in cooperation with other units in battlegroups,” said Colonel Sergey Ishtuganov, deputy head of the Unmanned Systems Forces, in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.
The TASS agency recalls that in December 2024, at the last meeting of the military council, Russia’s Defense Minister Andrey Belousov stated that the creation of a new branch of the armed forces – the Unmanned Systems Forces – could be finalized in the third quarter of 2025, in accordance with the directives of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Vladimir Putin. Earlier and in the meantime, independent units had already been formed, such as the Rubikon Advanced Unmanned Technologies Center, the 7th Independent Reconnaissance-Strike Unmanned Systems Regiment, the GROM Cascade Unmanned Aerial Systems Brigade, as well as subunits within various existing branches of the armed forces.
This development is a response to Ukraine’s establishment, on 11 June 2024, of its own independent Unmanned Systems Forces (Ukrainian: Syły bezpilotnych system). Both countries use unmanned weapon systems on a massive scale in the ongoing armed conflict (according to available information, in October alone, Ukrainian drones of various types and levels struck 77,000 Russian targets), and the formation of an independent structure within the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was only a matter of time. Similar steps are being taken by other countries as well – for example, Poland established the Inspectorate of Unmanned Weapon Systems on 1 January 2025.
The purpose of creating such a branch of the armed forces is to consolidate units equipped with unmanned aerial, ground, and maritime systems (both surface and underwater), and to emphasize further development of these effectors – intended for combat missions (kinetic and electronic warfare), logistics, and reconnaissance. In the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe, the density of unmanned systems on the battlefield is increasing on both sides. In parallel, as the “sword” evolves, its counterbalance – the “shield” – is also being improved, meaning kinetic and non-kinetic anti-drone systems.
However, Russia’s previous practice was that despite the increasingly widespread use of unmanned systems in the aforementioned independent formations, their effectiveness was hampered by their traditional subordination to broader existing military structures, for example, on the Ukrainian front, within the Joint Group of Forces, and by the lack of systematic equipping of units with such systems. For this reason, the idea of creating a separate branch of the armed forces, modeled on the Ukrainian example, was particularly advocated by the Zapad Group of Forces operating in occupied Ukrainian territory.
1780/ The Russian Ministry of Defense showcased the emblem of the unmanned systems troops.
"The emblem features a crossed arrow and sword, with a microchip bearing a star and wings in the center."
/t.me/warhistoryalconafter/248544 pic.twitter.com/l5WFY2nFK7
— Huligan (@Ghost132607472) November 12, 2025
