Drone arms race transforms war in Ukraine, with U.S. now learning lessons | 60 M [0:00-5:05]

Now, Holly Williams on assignment for 60 minutes. When America went to war with Iran last month, the U.S. military faced an enemy using mass-produced drones to deadly effect. The same weapons have been used for years in Ukraine, some of them supplied by Iran to Russia. Unmanned and remotely controlled drones have transformed the Ukrainian battlefield. They are estimated to inflict around 80% of combat casualties on both sides. The technology is nothing short of revolutionary, and it's evolving rapidly. As we discovered, to adapt to the new era, the U.S. military is learning lessons from Ukraine. Forget everything you think you know about warfare. The traditional frontline in Ukraine has expanded to a roughly 10 mile wide strip called the Killzone. Only one who sets foot there can be spotted by a drone operator and hunted down. This was a narrow escape for some Ukrainian soldiers. They call these Frankenstein tanks, retrofitted with cages and mesh to deflect drone strikes. Getting covers roads close to the front, designed to catch them before they hit their target. To evade interference from electronic jammers, both militaries launch drones attached to miles long spools of fiber optic wire, leaving behind a digital spider's web. But the drones are not just in the air. Beside a frozen lake, Ukraine's security service took us to see one of their most treasured weapons. It looks a bit like a fishing boat scout. That's an outboard motor. It's a sea drone developed in Ukraine called Sea Baby, where protecting this operator's identity because he's a target for Russian assassination. What's the payload on this? It's getting really big. 2,000 kilograms. 2,000 kilos of explosives. Is that enough to take out a Russian warship? Yes. Produced for around $300,000, Ukrainian sea drones have destroyed warships that cost tens of millions. Ukraine says it's used them to sink or disable 11 Russian vessels. Which one is more useful? A warship or a sea drone like the Sea Baby? Sea drone, I think it's really hard to destroy these drones because they are smaller. That's why to have like ten ships like this is much better than kind of one big one. Well, to be clear, you're saying you'd rather have ten sea drones than a warship? Yeah. Necessity is the mother of invention. Alexander Commission started out the war as the CEO of Ukraine's railways. He was so good at his job helping millions of Ukrainians to evacuate that President Vladimir Zelensky recruited him to become the architect of Ukraine's drone program. Cheap, fast, efficient. Commission told us he helped boost Ukraine's production from 2,000 drones a year to 4 million. For the outnumbered Ukrainians, the inexpensive new technology has allowed them to level the battlefield. It's a data driven war. We speak numbers. It's a numbers game. What do you mean by a numbers game? We have to count everything. We have to count number of drones we use. Efficiency of each of them cost to kill for every Russian. And what is the cost of killing every Russian? You would be surprised, but the cost of killing every Russian is less than $1,000 now. That's why they sent so many people to die on the frontline. They don't count them. They don't value them. Would you want to be in Vladimir Putin's shoes right now? No. Strategically, he lost. He wanted us to become weaker, became much stronger. 10 retired U.S. generals told us they agree that Russia isn't winning the war, despite its territorial gains. Some caution that Ukraine isn't winning either. But with the help of drones, has managed to draw Russia into a stalemate.