- Ukrainian military expert Taras Chmut publicly criticized Latvian-made AtlasPro drones supplied to Ukraine, alleging procurement problems and poor battlefield performance.
- Ukrainian servicemen told Defence Blog that drones delivered in 2022 failed operational testing and are currently kept in storage due to software errors and reliability issues.
A dispute over Western-supplied unmanned aerial systems resurfaced in Ukraine on Thursday, March 5, after Ukrainian military expert Taras Chmut publicly criticized Latvian-made AtlasPro reconnaissance drones previously delivered to Ukrainian forces.
Chmut accused the manufacturer Atlas Aerospace and Ukrainian officials involved in procurement of these drone systems that he said failed to meet battlefield requirements.
The criticism appeared in comments posted in response to news that soldiers of the National Army of Moldova had received Latvian Atlas reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles. Chmut, a well-known Ukrainian defense analyst and head of the Come Back Alive charity foundation, used the occasion to describe Ukraine’s earlier experience with the same drones.
In a public comment, Chmut sharply criticized both the manufacturer and Ukrainian officers involved in the acquisition process.
“An absolutely shameful story and experience of working with the Latvian manufacturer Atlas. In fact, fraud initiated by one of the officers of the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine Dmytro ‘Driker’, including ‘pushing’ these useless drones into service. The saddest thing is that he continues to deal with drones in the Special Operations Forces,” Chmut wrote.
Following the remarks, Defence Blog spoke with Ukrainian military personnel who had direct operational experience with the Atlas drones. According to those interviewed, Ukraine received a batch of the systems in 2022 during the early months of the full-scale war.
The military personnel said that trial operation revealed the drones did not meet the requirements of modern combat conditions.
According to the servicemen, the systems currently remain unused and have been placed in storage due to operational limitations discovered during testing.
One of the military personnel who participated in the evaluation said the drones were too immature for frontline use.
“The drones are too raw and their software constantly produces errors, which makes it physically impossible to use them on the battlefield because they simply do not work at all,” the serviceman said in a personal conversation.
The AtlasPro system is produced by the Latvian unmanned aircraft designer and manufacturer Atlas Aerospace. The company has previously promoted the drone as a reconnaissance platform designed for military use in environments where electronic warfare and GPS interference are common.
Atlas Aerospace has publicly stated that the drone underwent field testing under combat conditions in Ukraine. According to a press release from the company, Ukrainian defenders evaluated how the system performs under jamming, spoofing, and other forms of battlefield interference.
According to the company, the results demonstrated the platform’s resistance to electronic warfare.
“As noted by the company, the AtlasPro drone has demonstrated true jamming protection. It means that when using AtlasPro during combat situations, a pilot can operate this drone manually with no GPS mode and yet doesn’t lose an aircraft,” the company said.
Reconnaissance drones such as the AtlasPro are typically used by military units to observe enemy positions, adjust artillery fire, and monitor movement on the battlefield. These systems are often designed to operate at relatively short ranges and provide real-time video feeds to ground operators.
However, the war in Ukraine has created an operational environment dominated by electronic warfare systems capable of disrupting GPS signals, radio links, and drone navigation systems. As a result, many unmanned platforms require advanced software, hardened communications links, and resilient control systems to remain functional in contested electromagnetic environments.
Since 2022, Ukrainian forces have rapidly expanded their use of drones across nearly every battlefield role, including reconnaissance, artillery targeting, and direct attack missions. The demand for unmanned systems has driven procurement from both domestic manufacturers and international suppliers.
During the early stages of the war, Ukraine accepted drone deliveries from numerous foreign companies seeking to support Ukrainian defense efforts or test their systems in real combat conditions. Some of those platforms were later adapted, while others proved less suitable for the evolving operational environment.
The criticism surrounding the AtlasPro drones reflects broader debates within Ukraine’s defense community about procurement oversight and the effectiveness of certain foreign-supplied systems.