-21d0b63c17f6020e4df75f6c6f9a2f4f.jpg "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
Ukraine has launched a new military initiative known as the Army of Drones Bonus, designed to reward frontline drone operators with points for verified strikes against Russian targets.
The system, modeled after video game mechanics, aims to incentivize precise drone operations and streamline the delivery of critical battlefield technologies.
According to Politico on April 29, citing Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov, the point-based reward system will be integrated into a new digital platform known as Brave1 Market.
The platform will allow military units to exchange earned points for new equipment, with the government covering the cost and handling delivery logistics.
“Brave1 Market will be like Amazon for the military,” Fedorov said at a recent military tech forum in Kyiv. “It allows units to directly purchase technologies they need on the war front.”
Under the new system, drone footage confirming successful strikes must be uploaded to the military’s situational awareness network Delta. Once verified, units receive points based on the type of target eliminated:
6 points for eliminating an enemy soldier
20 points for damaging a tank
40 points for destroying a tank
Up to 50 points for eliminating a mobile rocket system, depending on its caliber
One of the featured items on Brave1 Market is the Vampire drone—also known as “Baba Yaga”—which costs 43 points. This multi-rotor drone can carry a 15-kilogram warhead and is used in precision strike missions.
The platform already features over a thousand items, including drones, electronic warfare systems, robotic platforms, artificial intelligence systems, and various components. Soldiers will also be able to leave reviews to inform future procurement decisions.
Units accumulating high point totals can receive substantial hardware upgrades. Fedorov cited Magyar’s Birds, a prominent Ukrainian drone unit, which has amassed over 16,000 points—enough for approximately 500 first-person view drones for day operations, 500 night drones, 100 Vampire drones, and 40 reconnaissance UAVs.
The system is intended not only to encourage accurate targeting but also to streamline the delivery of equipment to high-performing units. According to Fedorov, the growing pace of confirmed strikes has required the government to accelerate drone deliveries.
“They started hitting targets so quickly that Ukraine does not have time to deliver new drones,” he said.
The point-based system also contributes to verified, real-time data on enemy losses, improving battlefield intelligence. The program is continually updated; for example, point values for infantry kills were recently tripled from two to six, which reportedly doubled the number of confirmed eliminations within a month.
“This is not just a motivational tool,” Fedorov noted. “It’s a mechanism that is changing the rules of war.”
Earlier in April, Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces unveiled the “Alligator-9,” a new modular naval drone capable of carrying torpedoes, electronic warfare units, or a “Tryzub 90” laser weapon designed to intercept missiles, drones, and aircraft.
-924c3c302c27387e19f6c44aaeb98745.png "Photo of Maryna Kulakova")
