'Genuinely worrying!' Vladimir Putin’s new drone force 'bigger than the entire British army'

In comparison, figures from October 2025 revealed that just 74,270 full-time trained soldiers were available for deployment in the entire British Army.

Alongside 25,710 reservists, the Army is at its smallest size in more than two centuries, following years of budget cuts.

The disparity in drone warfare readiness is particularly stark, with only 3,000 British troops having received training to operate unmanned aircraft.

Meanwhile, the ISW found that Russia has reportedly formed “seven regiments, 25 battalions, one division, and three detachments."

Beyond this core force, Moscow maintains approximately 1,000 additional personnel at its Rubikon Centre for Advanced Unmanned Technologies.

Several hundred more serve in the Bars-Sarmat Unmanned Systems Special Purpose Centre.

This brings Russia's total drone warfare capability to nearly 90,000 troops.

Its expansion shows no signs of slowing, with ISW indicating that Russia intends to significantly grow this branch throughout 2026.

The Kremlin is now planning to establish one brigade, four regiments, 96 battalions, two divisions, and 82 companies.

A UK defence source described these figures as "genuinely worrying”, per The Sun.

In a bid to address the disparity, the Parachute Regiment Charity is understood to have spent £10,000 on racing drones so soldiers could practise flying them "for sport".

It made the elite airborne unit the first British formation to establish a dedicated drone platoon.

The Ministry of Defence stated: "We are spending £4billion on boosting our drone capabilities.

“The Army has already trained 3,000 drone pilots, with another 6,000 to be trained next year."

Armed Forces minister and former commando Al Carns has supported calls for enhanced drone training, including the introduction of degree courses focused on developing new weapons systems.

He said: "In Ukraine, drones are causing more casualties than artillery -- that's the reality of modern warfare."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the World Economic Forum last month that Russia appeared to be rapidly scaling up production of drones, with help from Iran and China.

Although Moscow launched a record 810 drones in a single night in September, smaller-scale daily barrages are more common.

Speaking at Davos, Mr Zelensky said: “Russia has about 500 (more) Iranian drones each day and dozens of missiles, ballistic missiles.”

If accurate, the figure would represent a near threefold increase in output at Russia’s Alabuga special economic zone compared with early last year, when Ukrainian intelligence estimated production at around 170 drones per day.

On the other side of the conflict, Kyiv announced that drones now account for more than 80 per cent of enemy targets destroyed in January.

According to the defence ministry, almost 240,000 drone strikes have been carried out against enemy personnel.

A further 62,000 targeted light vehicles, 29,000 struck heavy equipment, and 32,000 were directed at unmanned aerial vehicles used for attack and reconnaissance.

The unmanned strikes were said to have killed 30,000 Russian troops, with President Volodymyr Zelensky declaring: “All losses are verified, every strike has video confirmation in the Delta system.”