As the besieged residents of Kyiv tried to find some peace of mind and quiet, sleeping in their beds this past Tuesday night, 21 Russian drones flew toward the city.
Ukrainian forces shot down 16, but five got through, damaging power stations, communications towers, and even a school.
Worst of all, at least four people were killed and 20 injured.
This is the nature of modern warfare.
It's not machine guns and trenches. It's not tank formations working to outflank each other. It's not even fighter jets screaming overhead with devastating payloads.
All of those things still exist, of course. They've been a part of this war.
But overwhelmingly, it's been the drones that have dominated the battlefield.
Whether it's conducting reconnaissance, blowing up infrastructure, or eradicating enemy forces...
Drones have been front and center.
Cole Rosentreter, CEO of Canadian drone maker Pegasus, recently made a really good point in The New York Times:
We've returned to warfare at industrial scale; both sides are treating drones the same as artillery shells now, because whoever has the logistical base to outproduce the other has a clear advantage on the battlefield.
See, that's where we're at. In addition to being a battle of human attrition, this war has become a test of each side's industrial base - its ability to manufacture and supply its troops.
And in that capacity, drones are being acquired on the same scale as ammunition.
That demand says a lot about their utility, efficacy, and expendability.
Russia can afford to send 20 drones and have 80% of them get shot down, because the five that make it through are enough to be disruptive.
That, and because the ones that are neutralized are easily replaced.
Without a doubt, drones like the MQ-9 Reaper that Russia knocked out of the sky last week or the companion craft that are being designed to complement our fighter groups can be extremely sophisticated...
But most are relatively simple and cheap to produce.