Drone warfare and improvisation
Ukraine, which has faced Russian aggression for years, is witnessing many innovations in drone technology. Besides modern technologies such as remotely controlled drones with Starlink or fiber optics, simple 'field improvements' are also appearing on the battlefield. According to Defence Blog, the Russians have started installing $2 magnetic compasses on their Molniya drones to deal with electronic warfare.
How it works
The Molniya drone is a cheap, medium-range drone that uses the open-source ExpressLRS radio system. Some versions used Starlink, but Ukrainian registration requirements made that impossible. An alternative is fiber optics, which is immune to jamming but limits range to 30 km. Due to frequent GPS jamming, operators have started adding a magnetic compass to the drones, placed under the camera. The pilot can then look down and check the direction.
Cheap and effective solution
In leaked photos, you can see that the compass is attached with five screws – it's not a factory modification. Some mock this improvisation, but the fact is that it helps complete missions. As an old Russian proverb says: 'If it's stupid but works, it's not stupid.'