UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES AS A KEY ELEMENT OF MODERN MILITARY WEAPONS: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT IN UKRAINE

The article is devoted to the analysis of military equipment, namely, unmanned aerial vehicles, which are now intensively used and have an undoubted priority in the Russian-Ukrainian war. The relevance of our research is that drone warfare has not been used on such a scale in world armed conflicts. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that Ukraine is fighting the enemy every day, and this requires urgent actions and solutions to problems that, due to the complex conditions, become critical and cost lives. The article presents the history of the emergence and use of the first unmanned aerial vehicles and their analogues, the evolution from the first remotely controlled aerial vehicles to modern types of UAVs, in particular FPV. The study is also devoted to a comparative analysis of the existing, main, modern types of unmanned aerial vehicles, their characteristics and application during combat missions. The authors insist that the development of these military technologies is in the stage of active development and improvement. Attention is also paid to the aspect that this requires the availability and increase of the number of qualified specialists, as well as adequate funding in this field from the state. The authors focus their attention on the advantages and disadvantages of unmanned aerial vehicles according to the analysis of research by engineers and military specialists with combat experience. Emphasized the importance of further development and improvement in this area. It is noted that the role of drones in today's war is strategically important. The authors' conclusions emphasize the need for a large number of qualified specialists who must be sufficiently motivated for high-quality work. The key goals and methods of solving problems that arise during the research are defined. The general analysis of the researched data confirms the effectiveness of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the Russian-Ukrainian war and emphasizes the advantages and disadvantages of the cited unmanned aerial vehicles. The work contributes to the understanding of the modern realities of war and determines the direction of further research and actions in this area. Keywords: Unmanned Aircraft, FPV, drone, Russian-Ukrainian war, evolution of weapons, full-scale invasion, air war.