DRONES Part Five: Vehicles and Large Weapons Systems – Driving in Drone Warfare, by GuerrillaLogistician

DRONES Part One: History Repeats – Drone Advancement and Air Force Development Paths, by GuerrillaLogistician

DRONES Part Two: Drones and the Tactics We Have Seen vs the Doctrine of Air Power, by GuerrillaLogistician

DRONES Part Three: Air Force Development, by GuerrillaLogistician

DRONES Part Four: Personnel and Drones, by GuerrillaLogistician

Reference –  D5

By GuerrillaLogistician

@glogistician on X.com

TM 5-267 It is essential that personnel operating guns be extremely careful when in and around emplacements to avoid leaving telltale paths or marks of any kind.

Vehicle / Large Weapons Survival Checklist

Quartering Party

1. Have EW and SIGINT equipment
2. Recon the area  to be occupied
   1. Provide adequate dispersion
   2. Have units parked in dark areas with heavy textured areas of terrain, using as much natural overhead coverage as possible
3. Make a track plan/route plan taking full advantage of natural terrain features.
   1. Make full use of existing roads and paths for entering and leaving the area
   2. Locate new routes close to or parallel to lines which are normal features of the terrain’s pattern
   3. Have one-way traffic circulation
   4. Show areas  that should be patrolled, and where ground guides are needed
   5. Show areas where parking requires overhead screening
   6. Show portions of routes where tracks must be obliterated after traffic has passed
   7. Show locations of soft or soggy areas that will be noticeable if traveled on
   8. Show locations of unloading areas
   9. Show areas of unit parking areas
   10. Show locations where vegetation may be cut without making scars that would attract attention

Motor Vehicle officers

1. Instruct drivers in detail of the track plan, and make sure they understand the purpose of the plan
2. Check parking for
   1. Dispersion
   2. Concealment measures
3. Cover repair and refueling areas with overhead screens if natural cover doesn’t exist

Drivers

1. Maintain dispersal distances on march, halts, and in bivouac
2. If your vehicle breaks down, don’t park in an open field. If possible, pull off the main road onto a side road, or park under trees, or in the shadow of bushes/buildings.  Drape the vehicle if repairs will take more than a short time. Don’t keep shiny tools or repair parts in the sun, where reflections may attract enemy recon.
3. Follow traffic signs and instructions of traffic guides when approaching, within, and leaving a concealed position.  Keep to designated routes, unloading areas, and parking areas.
4. Don’t make unnecessary noises during concealed movements. Disconnect the horns during those operations.
5. Conceal your vehicle in a parking area –
   1. Park under overhead cover, if available, or parallel to and close beside a building, hedge, or other natural terrain lines. Make sure to use the shadows to your advantage
   2. Prevent shine, cover windshields, headlights, cab windows, and taillights with mud, foliage, tape, or prepared covers. Cover the rear of the cargo area with a drape to prevent shadows
   3. Drape with netting, and arrange props so the net is at least a foot above the top of your vehicle.  Pull the edges of the net out as far as they can reach and stake them.  In sparsely wooded areas, carry props and stakes.
   4. If the vehicle isn’t covered with camo, use cut foliage to break up the form of the vehicle.  If the vehicle is draped with cut foliage to break up bumps and edges.  Choose foliage that blends with the surrounding area.
   5. If in a bivouac or a concealed position, cut foliage only in areas designated for that purpose
   6. Don’t wash the body of the vehicle unless ordered to by a motor officer
   7. Maintain blackout discipline at night

Vehicle camouflage in modern times has become more important than many realize. Between the global War on Terror and the Ukraine war, I see so many vehicles being left both unattended and without proper concealment that it baffles my mind. This also applies to most of the knowledge we gained from the Global War on Terror. With all the FOBs operational, very little was done to camouflage vehicles; only to protect them. Now, the emergence of near-peer adversaries is going to change everything we have to do. This is probably even more critical for the guerrilla fighter than at any other time.  I will try to balance the two positions because there’s a lot that can be done to conceal a civilian vehicle, but there are also many issues that come with it. I’m going to try to address this from both a military and a guerrilla warfare standpoint, because while the core principles are similar, they also differ in various ways.  Some of the principles are highly relevant, and depending on your vehicle’s location, your tasks will be almost identical. The difference is that much of the work on the military side is more permanent. In contrast, a guerrilla warfare situation will require vehicles to be stripped of many of the tricks of the trade that keep military vehicles operational.

Military Enemy Observation

The five main points that you should keep in mind are Shine, Shadow, Shape, Tracks, and Color Value.  These happen to be a lot of the same things as the average soldier has to deal with as well, so you should be familiar with this.  This also happens to be the same thing that we dealt with in World War 2 as well, and I’m assuming that with the advent of drone technology, this has gotten even worse. Unfortunately, for most of the observers not in the war, we can’t tell what has exposed some very good cover and concealment points for vehicles. I have seen Russian vehicles parked in old, damaged hangars. These hangers had drones fly into them, which might indicate that the Russians forgot to close the door, that the operator had flown over there so many times they saw something unusual and checked it out, or that they were tracking these soldiers beforehand. It may even be as simple as determining where the infiltrators came from and doing some best-guesswork.

Regardless of what we see over and over again, poorly hidden vehicles are being destroyed by drones with no one around the vehicle most of the time. Then come the artillery emplacements and other various mobile weapons systems, which generally seem to have much the same issue as the vehicles. That said, many of these weapon systems were probably fired recently and may have been tracked down for that reason as well. Time, and hopefully an end to the war, will give us more definitive information on exactly what caused many of these issues. Still, we see many vehicles absolutely caught in the open, exposed to light or no foliage, so often in the Division Rear Area and Corps Rear Area.  Tragically for both sides, many vehicles are being damaged that are not even in operational use at the time.

A lot of this probably has to do with a lack of logistical thought, which was absolutely paramount during World War 2, when aircraft could smash anything in the open. WWII aircraft had a lower hit probability than most of these drones do, making it far more effective. The problem has gotten even more complicated because so many drones can be flown over so many specific areas at low enough altitudes to spot far more detail than an aircraft trying to avoid anti-air. This means that, just like the personal camouflage article, much of this is more important than ever. So let’s dive into the five aspects of vehicle camouflage, which also apply to large weapons systems. Even if you do everything correctly and there is great evidence of people doing the right thing on both sides of this conflict, you may still be found and destroyed for various reasons, including thermal signature. Remember, as stated earlier, thermals have only so much capability to detect your heat plume, but motors obviously produce much more heat and must be screened properly to remain undetected.

Tracks

https://x.com/giK1893/status/1823069754397208714?s=20
Ukraine’s striking vehicle is poorly hidden from overhead.

Having watched probably hundreds of hours of drone video at this point, I can say for a fact that one of the key aspects of World War II has travelled into the future and plagues warfare right now. Tracks are a key identifier of vehicles, if that wasn’t obvious enough. The example above is a very good illustration of multiple failures while attempting to do the right thing. That said, the operator of that vehicle made several key errors, and the first we will discuss is the tracks running through the large grass. As shown below, features like farmland, cutting corners, and multiple tracks are clear signs that someone was there. So much so that during World War 2, many observation aircraft and enemy loitering aircraft would spot these tracks and attack the woods without even knowing if anything was in there.

Nowadays, that has changed, with reconnaissance drones providing more detailed observations and launching other drones, such as HUK and bomber drones, to mitigate the problem. In the simplest form, follow the natural order of the ground. Do not drive off into random areas just to cut your travel time.  As seen below, those tracks can tell the enemy a lot. For instance, it may be more of a straight line to go from point A to point B across an open field, but that open field also might be farmland, which will leave obvious tracks to your next destination. That said, farmland generally has tracks along the borders for tractors and trucks to move about their daily routines. This may mean you have to go to the edge of a road, then turn onto a side road and follow a path before entering a concealed area, such as a wooded area.  As you can see in the video above, these tracks were easily recognizable on top of the poorly positioned vehicle. That said, it was the first attempt. Unfortunately, I don’t think vehicle operators learned from their mistakes in time, which makes me wonder whether they are receiving training but lack exposure to long-term survivors of this conflict who would pound this information into their heads. Likewise, I’m very concerned about the US military’s position on this, as I have been out for a while but have seen little in the way of intricate camouflage tactics that were apparently very common in World War II.

If you want to step back to the previous article, this is the same issue that you have with Lines of Drift.  Tracks are just your lines of drift going to and from places, and they expose your location just like footpaths do to the average individual and all the ones that fall behind him. As you can see from the photos below, there’s a right way and a wrong way to both consider your route and park your vehicles. While some lines of drift, like roads, will prevent you from being tracked to a certain location, they can also be ambush points, especially if an observer can find where you have come off the road to conceal your vehicle.

Concealed Roads

Another way to mitigate the problem of tracks is to create a concealed road system. I’ve left out a few guiding principles that were commonplace during World War 2 because I think there is too much exposure to drones in this day and age. The US military was known to build single-lane roads into the woods, having guide wires and posts erected along the path. Foliage was tied into position along with camouflage netting to prevent visual observation of convoys moving near the front lines or in areas frequented by aircraft. Many of these concealed roads would not be visible from an aircraft flying overhead.  The US Army called this “wiring in roads,” as they ran wire a few feet above ground on posts to guide trucks along designated pathways. This wiring, along with personnel (road guides), would direct those vehicles to their intended destinations. Movement Control would designate the logistical patterns for these vehicles, get them on their way to the Division Rear and Division Close positions with supplies, troops, etc., and establish a loop to return casualties to the Division Rear.

Sitting/Parking

Parking or sitting, as the military calls it, is something that needs to be discussed a lot more. This will be a section where I’ll need to separate the military side from the partisan side, as things get very difficult. Especially now, with camera systems deployed worldwide, your vehicle will most likely be tracked by someone as a partisan. Some of the anti-drone items I presented in the personal tracking also double as flock camera detectors. I’m sure there are several options for those poor souls in Europe dealing with their camera dystopia. Regardless of where you choose, your vehicle must provide good concealment and follow the same rules as a person in hiding. Those tracks can also be an extreme giveaway. There are four main types of terrain where vehicles can be parked, and while I won’t dive too deeply into this, I do want to point them out to you.

• Wooded Areas are one of the most obvious Locations to conceal a vehicle. Not only do most wooded areas provide good aerial cover, but they can also conceal vehicles from the ground. The downside is the risk of tracks being exposed when entering wooded areas, along with the tough terrain and tight confines in some areas. Most of these areas will require ground guides and extensive movement-control planning, but they will afford excellent concealment if executed properly. One key consideration is that you will need to disperse the vehicles and park them irregularly to maintain concealment.
• Agricultural terrain, like that scene in Ukraine, can’t afford its own concealment patterns as well, with the dominant characteristics of fence lines and hedges. Vehicles can be deployed in a parallel pattern along the train lines, but they don’t provide as much concealment as wooded areas.
• Urban terrain also has its own unique assets, affording both the building and possibly vegetation features to hide vehicles. One of the key downsides is that most people are used to parking near a building, which does not provide good concealment and also signals that the building is most likely occupied.
• Barren terrain, such as deserts, can have partial concealment if done properly. Although vehicles must take advantage of terrain features and shadows from large rocks to conceal themselves. This is obviously the least favorable terrain for hiding, but it can still be done with some extra steps.

Partisan Parking

Many cameras can be detected simply by using a night vision device and going out at night to conduct pre-reconnaissance of the area where you plan to park your vehicle. Even though camera technology is advanced and night vision is being integrated into many camera systems, most still require IR illumination to see effectively in the dark. This will probably be the only time I would say a digital night vision camera is acceptable for spotting these kinds of cameras. While I believe analog Night vision is far better at detecting shadows and bright spots from refracted IR light off the ground, even digital cameras for individuals in countries that allow them will suffice to an extent. Another thing you’ll need to figure out is where you can park your vehicle while still being able to get out to perform the operation you have planned. This might be extremely difficult and require multiple trips into the area to cache supplies, weapons, and, if necessary, personnel.

Depending on your location and the cameras, it might be better not to have a vehicle on-site, but to have a driver ready on short notice. This will allow a driver to drop off a group of partisans, then proceed to another location where they typically go, and wait for a pickup signal. The driver could also just drive around randomly, pretending to be going somewhere.  Unfortunately, this will likely require a deep-dive article on the subject, which I may produce at some point if there is interest. Suffice to say, trying to park your vehicle in a concealed area as a partisan might cause you more issues than if you parked it in a parking lot. One of the key things we have learned from multiple idiots is not to take your cell phone with you because that ties the partisan to the location where a vehicle is seen.

Also, temporary tags were once very common on vehicles, but are less common today. They can still be created very simply without cardboard and a pen, but they will require some footwork and will only pass temporarily. This also means every single one of your stickers needs to be ditched, so there is no obvious sign on your vehicle compared to all the other vehicles of your type on the road. This can include rims, special bumpers, and custom lights, unless that is common for your area. Unique things on cars are much like tattoos on people’s faces; most people will see those first above the make and model of the vehicle.

Dispersion

https://x.com/ChallengerInUA/status/1943612506997424273?s=20
Vehicles are parked in one building with the door open.

Along with sitting/parking, another task is dispersing the vehicles. One of the major issues you will see repeatedly during the Ukraine war is multiple vehicles parked at a single location.  No matter what you do with vehicles, make sure you disperse them from a single location if possible. This is absolutely not the way we did it in the global War on Terror, but if you catch anyone during the Ukraine war packed together, you will see that the drones come flying, the mortars get dropped, and their artillery flies out. One of the key principles of World War 2 was to tell everyone to disperse along a line, which doesn’t mean you have to park in a secluded area that may not exist; instead, spread out in irregular patterns so your vehicles aren’t as easily detected. While the convenience of parking near a place or compound is nice, it is a death sentence for the passengers as well as the vehicle now.

Armor Can Survive

https://x.com/Zlatti_71/status/2001197419212558535?s=20
Armor in the field rolling over anti-personnel mines and taking on HUK drones

https://x.com/RomanShimon/status/1996924703097643076?s=20
Ukrainian Senator Vehicle surviving several drone strikes

https://x.com/Trotes936897/status/2003142819704373385?s=20
Drones destroyed Abrams after it was obviously abandoned.

So let’s pretend you are on a convoy and drones come flying at your armored personnel carrier, what are your chances of surviving? Probably a lot better than what you have anticipated from all the videos and claims that have been flying around the Internet since this war really kicked off. For a lot of the people who are digging deep into tanks and this current conflict, it is well documented that drones have taken out many vehicles. That said, many claims have been entirely false or duplicates: they may claim one tank was destroyed in one area, then another, and then another, because much of the open-source Intel comes from multiple signal chat groups. The reality is that a lot of these drones are not packed with anti-tank weapons. Most of the payloads are explosives designed to cause casualties against logistics and personnel, especially nowadays, because many tanks have gotten far better at the hit-and-run tactic and have substantial EW systems bolted on. This doesn’t mean drones can’t destroy tanks in multiple ways; it just means the tanks have adapted, just as the drones have adapted to different tactics.

As previously shown in other articles, numerous defense systems, such as cages and wire ropes, are deployed in a bush-like pattern, preventing the drone from getting close enough to damage the tank. Many of these systems have drawbacks, such as being ungainly on the vehicle and making it hard for soldiers to get out. Likewise, many of these limit the tanks’ ability to maintain good visibility in combat. My guess is that, over time, we will see more of this, along with more cameras on these tanks, providing better situational awareness. With that said, obviously, armored anything is a priority target for drone operators, and many of the anti-personnel drones will be flown in and detonated against these tanks. Much like the Bradley shooting, the T90 is a stopgap, trying to damage vital components and halt the tank; rather than deliver a one-shot kill, drone swarms can do the same. The Bradley with no AT missiles left was successful at stopping the T-90S advance, so these drones can do the same with less explosives than it takes to actually defeat the armor. Payloads aren’t big enough; multiple strikes don’t take them out, only damage them.  Many destroyed tanks are credited to drones, but are either mines or artillery with a finishing kill by a drone.

Drones Dropping Mines

https://x.com/CasualArtyFan/status/1998803776476787054?s=20
Russian Drone dropping anti-tank mines before being destroyed by a Ukrainian interceptor.

Another major issue with all these drones is not the direct strike but their indirect capabilities. As we’ve gone over numerous times, the Recon capabilities of the drones make them extremely deadly against the average person on the ground. Still, most of these drones don’t last long, and one task they can perform is deploying submunitions, such as bomblets and anti-personnel or anti-vehicle mines. While I didn’t go over this in the personnel survivability post, I wanted to touch on this more for the vehicle side. I’ve seen so many people in comments on X and other places discussing how tanks can be destroyed by drones, which is very true, and I think the proof has been seen by myself and so many others. Tanks were being destroyed in World War 1 and World War 2 by specific weapon systems as well. Armor has been changed, skirts have been added, and other technologies like reactive armor have been installed, and none of this has changed during this conflict.

Tanks have a better ability to carry more countermeasures and be more survivable than an average truck can. APCs have similar capabilities, and with the EW screening, the fragility of fiber-optic wires and piloting errors, many of these drones still miss. Add to that that most of the videos and claims of drones killing things like tanks and vehicles are sometimes overblown by both sides to prove how effective their tactics and capabilities are. That said, we still see drones flying in open vehicle hatches that have probably been long since abandoned by units that mines may have damaged.   One of the Russian claims about taking out an M1 Abrams was countered by the Ukrainians, saying an anti-tank mine disabled it, and the crew survived. Later, numerous drones arrived and destroyed it further. Most of the technological advancements in these drones give them the same capabilities as many of our very good anti-tank systems, like the Javelin. That said, I bet a lot of our missiles have a better hit rate than a lot of these drones at the moment. This will probably change over time, and countermeasures to these drones will be produced, as they are now, that will be far more effective.

Detection

https://x.com/sambendett/status/1991149553832034654?s=20

One of the interesting things found on some of the helicopters the Russians and Ukrainians are flying is handheld detectors like those carried by www.brushbeater.store .  Instead of installing a dedicated system that is hard to integrate with a computer system, many vehicle operators now carry receivers that detect multiple spots on the band where drones are present. These devices can provide audible and visual alerts of drone activity in the area, along with an estimate of distance based on signal strength. This system is no different from that which the infantry units have been using, and should be added to every vehicle possible. That said, certain vehicles, such as armored vehicles, will have a harder time receiving the signal and may require an external antenna safely wired into the vehicle to prevent compromising the armor.

In the future, I’m sure we’ll see a lot more SIGINT-style systems built into almost every vehicle. While radio operators of the past were merely educated in the use of radios for communication, I see their careers expanding into the signals intelligence section as well, purely for survival reasons. This might mean a lot more waterfall-style screens, along with other automated software, to notify the operators of possible issues or extraneous communications in the area that are not normal. The downside of some of this is that many drone systems run on common bands used by cell phones and other devices, so picking out drone signals requires a bit of processing, which is not difficult but isn’t something most systems feature at this point.

EW

Electronic Warfare will be extremely important for vehicles, as these systems will have far greater range than the troop-based pack radios. Also, with greater sophistication and higher processing capabilities, these devices could be mounted on the vehicle and used to both detect and prevent drones from getting too close. Many American systems are modernized to be self-initiating, meaning they won’t come on until they detect a drone. This can provide valuable protection for both the vehicle and nearby troops if done correctly, and prevent the enemy from knowing you are moving in. One of the key issues for both the Russians and the Ukrainians has been determining when to turn electronic jamming on and off, which comes to the forefront in combat with aircraft. As many might know, aircraft have sensors to detect electronic warfare systems, and I see most vehicles getting at least a rudimentary version of this in the future, allowing them to activate countermeasures against drones at the last possible minute. Time will tell whether the tactics of the error translate to ground tactics as well, but it is safe to say that consistent, constant jamming prevents you from using your own systems quite often, adding to the fact that the enemy knows exactly where you are.

Smoke

Much like the capabilities of smoke on the individual, the capabilities of smoke on vehicles are also extremely useful.  With EW, you prevent the operator from guiding weapons to the target. With any smoke, you prevent pixel lock technology from actively guiding weapons to your vehicle if you deploy it in time.  It is unknown at this point whether smoke from engine exhaust will distort pixel lock enough to cause a miss, but that is a strong possibility.  Systems like the M56 Coyote Smoke system, which can prevent a thermal signature for up to 30 minutes also prevents pixel locking technology and confuses the pilot. The Rheinmetall 40mm smoke system also has a similar feature in a cartridge dispensing system. While most of these systems are designed to present smoke in a certain direction, they don’t do a very good job of vertical coverage, which means they probably need to be modified to better cover drone contact. These systems will defeat thermal-seeking missiles, so they will work against drones’ thermal and visual cameras. The downside is that we don’t see much of this being used in the Ukraine-Russia war for some reason. I assume that its one-shot use makes it limited at best, and the cage system is probably far more effective at keeping drones at standoff from the armor.

Rheinmetall’s 40 mm smoke system creates both a visual blocking and a thermal blocking layer.