Russian military launches recruitment drive for drone units

The Russian military has launched a recruitment drive to fill its Unmanned Systems Forces (USF), placing greater-than-usual emphasis on candidate quality. This campaign reflects the key role drones have come to play in the Ukraine war and in Russia’s plans for its future force structure.

In mid-January, the Russian Defense Ministry’s Telegram channel began posting a steady stream of recruitment ads for the USF, a new branch of arms (rod voysk) comprising personnel dealing with aerial, ground, and maritime drones across the Russian military. Defense Minister Andrei Belousov first announced plans to establish the USF in December 2024, following a similar move by Ukraine.

The campaign has its own informational website, chatbot, and call-in number. In addition to lucrative pay and other socioeconomic benefits, the Defense Ministry insists that recruits will receive adequate training and will serve only in drone units—an attempt to counter horror stories of drone pilots being shoved into assault roles.

Applicants are also promised a one-year contract with a guaranteed right to discharge upon its expiration, whereas other troops must serve indefinitely. Whether Moscow will honor that commitment, given its previous usage of personnel, is an open question.

“Unlike assault units, where quantity is paramount, the emphasis [in the USF] will be on quality rather than sheer numbers,” explained Oleh Luhovskyi, first deputy head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, in an interview published on January 24.

The Russian Defense Ministry says it will prioritize applicants who have experience in aviation, spetsnaz (elite light infantry), or reconnaissance units, or with flying drones, aircraft modeling, IT, electronics, or radio engineering. Candidates must meet education and health requirements and be 18 to 45 years old, while future first-person view (FPV) drone pilots cannot be older than 35.

According to the Russian daily Kommersant, recruiters are actively targeting university and college students. One ad shows a young man swapping out a computer game for a set of FPV goggles.

In the war in Ukraine, both sides employ unmanned aerial systems (UAS) of various types to conduct reconnaissance, correct fire, deliver supplies, emplace and clear mines, and conduct strikes at distances ranging from 0 to 1,000 kilometers. UAS now account for most combat casualties suffered by Russian and Ukrainian forces.

Uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs) are also playing an increasingly important role, particularly in logistics and casualty evacuation. Ukraine has also famously used uncrewed surface vessels to repel Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, while both belligerents employ USVs for various tasks on the Dnipro River.

In December, Belousov said that the USF’s “formation” would be “completed” in 2026. These forces will be tasked with “transitioning from the execution of individual tasks by groups and crews to comprehensive joint operations within units and military formations,” the defense minister added.

The Russians currently have some 80,000 troops serving in drone units, according to General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Ukrainian commander-in-chief. “In the second phase, in 2026, they plan to double this number—to 165,500. And by 2030—almost 210,000,” he stated.

To put those ambitious targets in perspective, Ukrainian intelligence believes Moscow currently plans to recruit 409,000 troops in 2026. Devoting so many recruits to drone units could leave assault units short-staffed, assuming casualty rates remain high. Another likely constraint is training capacity. In December, Belousov said that Russia must “significantly expand” the drone-related training pipeline to accommodate “several tens of thousands of people.”

Like Ukraine, Russia has adapted its force structure throughout the war to accommodate the increased role of unmanned systems. This has included the establishment of larger drone units.

Notably, Russia has formed or begun forming unmanned systems regiments within each of its military districts. The first appears to have been the Central Military District’s 7th Regiment, established in 2024. These units are equipped with various fixed- and rotary-wing reconnaissance, one-way attack, and interceptor UAS, as well as UGVs.

A recent state media report on a new drone regiment claimed that the instructors training recruits all fought in Ukraine and themselves receive periodic refresher training from Russia’s elite Rubicon Center for Advanced Unmanned Technologies. Formed in 2024, Rubicon has earned the respect of Ukrainian troops both for its direct battlefield impact and its dissemination of tactics, techniques, and procedures to other units.

In addition to filling out units and replacing losses, Russia will likely use new recruits to continue creating drone formations and expand some existing ones. USF Deputy Commander Colonel Sergey V. Ishtuganov, 39, a decorated officer who came up through the Airborne Forces, foreshadowed as much last November. According to Syrskyi, the USF is supposed to comprise “277 military units and sub-units” by 2030.

In concert, Russia has been codifying new drone-related military occupational specialties and adding or adjusting training programs at military academies, institutionalizing adaptations driven by the war in Ukraine. In 2027, Russia plans to open a dedicated military school in the Moscow region to train officers for unmanned systems units.

These adaptations make it clear that the Russian military believes unmanned systems will continue to play a critical role in warfare long after the guns in Ukraine fall silent.

John Hardie is the deputy director of FDD’s Russia Program and a contributor to FDD’s Long War Journal.